Unveiling The Future
by Lord Lugos
Summary: Pre everything, sort of. Sirius Black awakes from a premonition to find that it may not be to late to save Harry from the pain he would surely have. But can he handle being a father? Only time will tell.
1. There Is No Fate

_Well, this story has been floating around in my head for a while, and it finally wouldn't let me work on chapter 17 of Destiny anymore. This is most of what I had for the idea, I was considering making it be a one shot, but now I have a few ideas how to continue, so there should be more chapters, I was gonna call this chapter 'Big Daddy' after the Adam Sandler movie, but it didn't seem to fit as well. The chapter title came from Terminator 2. and of course, the Harry universe is owned by JKR. I hope you like it. Please review, thanks._

"**Unveiling The Future"**

**Chapter 1, "There Is No Fate"**

The last five years seemed distant now, as Sirius fell back from Bella's spell. Balance lost, he couldn't stop himself from falling towards the veil. His eyes grew wide with shock as he looked over to Harry, who was scrambling to get to the dais where the veil was located. He heard Harry scream his name as the blackness overtook him.

"Haaaarry," yelled Sirius sitting straight up in bed, hands over his eyes, trying to block the memory.

Sirius couldn't think where he was. He couldn't catch his breath as he shook his head to clear his mind, but nearly every detail of the last five years seemed to be permanently etched in his brain. He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Sirius?" came a vaguely familiar voice, but Sirius blocked it from his mind, trying to think what happened.

Slowly it came back to him. Azkaban. He had been in the island prison of Azkaban for the supposed betrayal of his best friend. But he wasn't in Azkaban, he was in a very comfortable bed. As his breathing calmed he was finally able to focus a little on where he was. He removed his hands and slowly opened his eyes. Things were still a little blurry from spending six years in the darkness of the prison.

"Sirius?" the voice spoke again.

The image of a tall wizard with long white hair and beard came into focus finally. "Dumbledore?" Sirius said weakly. "What happened? Where am I?"

"You're in St. Mungo's," Dumbledore answered

"St. Mungo's?" Sirius questioned, his mind still a little fuzzy.

"Yes. You collapsed in your cell at Azkaban. You've been in a magical coma for over a month," Dumbledore said gently.

"I remember, Dumbledore," he said. Eyes wide. "Harry's in danger. I've gotta get to him."

"It was a prophetic dream as I suspected then?"

"Yes. Yes. I can remember everything. I woke up when I died in a battle to save Harry. My cousin Bella knocked me into a veil of death somewhere in the department of mysteries."

"Veil?" came a shocked voice to Sirius' right.

"Sirius, this is the new..." Dumbledore started before Sirius broke in.

"Minister of Magic. Yes I know. The dream was very detailed." Sirius spoke in ragged breaths as he was still weak from the coma and years in Azkaban.

"Minister, do you know of this veil?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, I'm afraid I do. That would seem to confirm at least part of the dream, as no one outside of that department knows of its existence. Certainly not someone who has spent the last six years in Azkaban."

"Six years?" Sirius questioned. "So it's not to late, I can save Harry."

"Why would you want to save someone you tried to kill, Mr. Black," said the Minister, trying to sound important.

Sirius eyes started to tear up as he said, "It was Peter Pettigrew. I switched with him at the last moment. I thought no one would suspect him. I figured I would be the target and could save them, but I failed. I didn't realise that he was already a deatheater. I should have known."

"But you killed Peter, along with a dozen muggles," the Minister said accusingly.

"No, no I didn't. I was going to, because he betrayed James and Lily, so I knew he was working for Voldemort."

The Minister was the only one to flinch at the name of the Dark Lord. "A likely story, Mr. Black. I am familiar with the story. I looked into it after we found you collapsed in your cell. I know Crouch didn't give you a trial, but with so many witnesses, there was really no need."

"Forgive me, Remus, James," Sirius said to himself before looking into Dumbledore's eyes. "Peter faked his death. Thanks to the dream, I can tell you where he is and why no ones seen him, even though he's been hiding in plain sight." Sirius paused, trying to gain his strength.

"Go on, Sirius," Dumbledore said softly, "It'll be alright."

Sirius continued. "He's an animagus. Peter, James, and I learned how in our fifth year. It took us two years to figure out just how to do it, but we succeeded in the end. We did it so we could hang out with Remus during his change."

The Minister was about to say something as he was familiar with Remus Lupin's condition, but refrained with a look from Dumbledore.

"He's been hiding at Arthur Weasley's house, waiting for the perfect chance to strike at Harry."

"Did I just hear my name?" came a voice from the door. "I was looking for the two of you, Albus, Minister. It seems that Mr. Moody is not to happy in his retirement."

"Mr. Weasley, you've got to get your son's pet rat away from them. He's dangerous," Sirius warned.

Everyone just looked at Sirius. "Do I know you?" Mr. Weasley said, a little puzzled.

"No, but I know you. Your son Percy has a rat named Scabbers, right?"

"Well, er, yes he does, but, how did you know? I don't understand."

"You found this rat not long after you-know-who's down fall? An ordinary garden rat, but he seems to be long lived as its been six years." Sirius' face almost maniacal, but he tried to calm down when Dumbledore gave him a stern look.

"Arthur, if you could please retrieve the rat, caged if you would. Ministry business, I should think, right Cornelius?" Dumbledore said.

The Minister was starting to get annoyed with Dumbledore. Yes, he often asked for advice from Dumbledore, but HE was the Minister. He was going to say something about that but thought better of it and just nodded his head.

Arthur just nodded and left a little puzzled as Dumbledore waived his wand, A silvery mist appeared in the shape of a phoenix and sped away. He then turned back to Sirius. "If this is true then I would have to commend you for keeping it a secret from me."

The Minister gave Dumbledore a sharp look for making light of a very serious situation. "Mr. Black, I trust Albus' instincts about the prophetic dream being true. But some additional information would be helpful."

Sirius looked up at the Minister with hope in his eyes. "I know that all they ever found of Peter was a finger. When the rat gets here you will notice that one of its toes will be missing."

"Hmmm," the Minister said. "It's true all we found was a finger." The Minister started getting a little nervous. "I'm afraid that if all of this proves to be true, the best we can offer you would be a sincere apology on behalf of the ministry. I..I don't know what else we could do to make reparations for your time in Azkaban," the Minister said with heartfelt emotion mixed with a little fear.

"What is it Albus? Oh my word," said a voice from the door upon entering and then seeing who was on the bed.

"Minerva, it would seem a terrible mistake has been made. Sirius Black has been in a prophetic coma for the last month. Upon his awaking he has claimed innocence and that Mr. Pettigrew and he are animagi," Dumbledore said and then quickly explained the rest of what happened.

"Albus, are you sure?" said Minerva.

"I know you don't hold much weight with divination, but I believe that what Sirius has experienced to be genuine."

Mr. Weasley then entered carrying a small cage with a very mangy looking rat in it. The Minister gasped and pointed out the missing toe on the front paw.

Sirius gathered as much strength as he could and belted out, "Hello Peter, you traitorous rat!"

The rat immediately began shrieking and squeaking trying to get out of the cage.

"If you would, Minerva?" Dumbledore said to the tall witch who was a little shocked.

She leaned over and looked at the rat closely for a few moments. She then stood up and said sternly, "Minister, if you would summon a few Aurors."

"Oh dear," Dumbledore sighed as the Minister gasped and then went and did as she asked.

Sirius was shaking with both mental and physical exhaustion from the coma and Azkaban's effects, not to mention the anger toward his ex-friend. He growled at the rat before looking down and shuddering violently.

Soon, the Minister returned with two Aurors and was about to introduce them when Sirius broke in, "Kingsley Shacklebolt," he said to the tall man on the left. "But you, I don't know," he said then grabbed his head in pain as he had a sudden flash of the other man as Minister some time in the future."

Dumbledore who was nearest, put his hand on Sirius' shoulder until he calmed down.

Once Sirius had calmed he said, "Er, Rufus Scrimgeour, I believe. I just had another vision with you in it."

"Well I don't normally give much stock to divination, but we'll see, won't we?" the large man said.

The two aurors stood on either side of the rat to cast an antitransformation charm the moment Minerva forced the rat back into human form, as Transfiguration was her specialty.

"Ready?" she said, "1...2...3." And then waived her wand.

The transformation happened immediately and seemed to be a bit painful as the cage the rat was in suddenly became to small and burst apart. Peter Pettigrew emerged, fully human again, a little mangy himself after spending six years as a rat.

Sirius shook again trying to keep his emotions under control, especially his anger. Finally he laid back against his pillow and sobbed out, "How could you, Peter? They were our friends. James was like a brother to me." Then he sat up in the bed suddenly and screamed out, "HOW COULD YOU?"

Peter just sobbed and begged and pleaded. "You don't know how persuasive the Dark Lord can be. How could I say no?" he whimpered out.

"How could you say yes? Show them your left arm. Show them!" Sirius exclaimed.

Peter slowly rolled up the sleeve on his tattered robes to reveal a faint but clearly visible skull with a snake protruding from it's mouth, the Dark Mark.

"Severus, I know you're in the hall listening," Sirius said suddenly, in a low but shaky voice. "My animagus is a dog and I can smell your scent. Please, I beg you, for the sake of truth, for Harry, an innocent child, tell them."

Severus Snape, masking his shock at Sirius' tone, strode in rolling up his sleeve, showing an identical mark. "It IS the mark of the Dark Lord, faint now because he is weak, but not gone."

"Mr. Black, I am truly, truly sorry," the Minister said, nodding his head, sadly.

Sirius just sat there, his breathing a little unsteady. "You might want to check out Crouch's house as well. He faked his son's death at the request of his dying wife. Barty Jr. is right now under the imperius hiding there," he said in a calm whisper, trying to not vomit at what he saw in the dream, at Peter's betrayal, at everything.

Everyone, including Snape, was a little stunned at that revelation. The Minister quickly recovered though and nodded at Scrimgeour, realizing that his career was about to get a significant boost. Correcting a mistake by the previous administration and capturing two more deatheaters as well.

The aurors left with Peter, after conjuring restraints and binding his hands.

"Anything I else I can do, Mr. Black?" The Minister added, hoping for another boost. "I really would like to make up for the previous administrations mistakes in any way that I can."

Sirius realised he was shaking again as he thought about his best friends son. He held back the sobs as he said, "Make Harry Potter my heir, as his godfather, I should be his legal guardian, but I want to adopt him completely, make him a Black."

"I will see what I can do Mr. Black. It may take some time to get through the paperwork though," the Minister said apologetically.

"No!" Sirius screamed out now, no longer holding back the anguish and sobs in his voice. "Albus, those muggles you put him with keep him in a cupboard under the stairs. The fucking cupboard under the goddamn stairs. They treat him like an old discarded shoe. His cousin constantly beats on him." Turning to the Minister, "the Black Family won't forget if you push this through, Minister Fudge. Please, help me. Harry is just a little boy, and shouldn't be treated that way."

A stunned Fudge nodded simply. "It will be done. We will send someone immediately, as you are not able to go yourself."

"No," Sirius said a little more calmly, "No strangers, I will go myself. I just need something from Severus."

He then turned to Snape with pleading eyes, "Severus, I am sorry for everything that James and I did to you in school. Too little too late, I know, but we were immature, and I didn't realise it until this dream. I failed James, Lily, and Harry by suggesting Peter as secret-keeper, even with my doubts. I failed Harry again by going after Peter myself and letting him escape. I don't want to fail him again. You were the best potions student we ever saw, and I think we were jealous. Please, I know you have a potion that will restore my health quickly. Can you forgive us for being such stupid prats, please?"

Snape strolled quietly over to Sirius' bed and stared down at him with a mask of steel for several minutes. "Don't tell anyone, I have a reputation to maintain," he said with a slight smile that reached his eyes, stunning Albus and Minerva. "I shall return within the hour with the potion," he said and swept out of the room, his cloak billowing behind him.

"I don't even know what day it is. What time is it?" Sirius asked.

Fudge looked at his watch. "It's nearly 8pm on Wednesday October 21, er, 1987 in case you couldn't remember that either."

Sirius relaxed a little then. "If you could have the paperwork ready as soon as possible, I'd like to get him tomorrow when he gets home from school."

Dumbledore was about to object but Sirius looked at him scathingly, "You could have kept him at Hogwart's, you know. It's safe there. It would have been as good as the blood protection Petunia gives." Sirius said before settling back down into bed.

"I'll have the custody forms owled to you by the morning Mr. Black," Fudge said after giving Dumbledore a disapproving look.

"Thank you Minister, I won't forget this."

"Your quite welcome, and please call me Cornelius. Since Harry is in the muggle system, I'll send along their adoption forms as soon as I contact the muggle Minister." Fudge said puffing himself up a bit and the striding out of the room.

"I warned you about those muggles, Albus," Minerva said scoldingly. "Sirius, I'm sorry for ever thinking you could betray James. Take care of Harry, will you?" Sirius nodded and she left the room.

Arthur Weasley had been standing in the corner watching and finally approached Sirius. "I know you mainly did this for your own freedom and Harry Potter's welfare, but thank you. Who knows what that deatheater might have done to my children. I have a son Harry's age, when you two get settled, you must visit. I know my wife Molly will want to thank you too," and he strode out of the room leaving just Dumbledore and Sirius.

As Sirius lay there finally getting control of all the emotions he was experiencing, he sighed and turned away from Dumbledore. He then noticed a beetle over on the nightstand. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Opening his eyes, he let out the breath, calmly. He smiled and gave the beetle a wink knowing that all of this would be in the morning's Daily Prophet thanks to another unregistered animagus. Sighing again, he turned back to face Dumbledore.

Dumbledore let out a breath and asked, "What are your plans? Harry needs to stay away from any fame as the-boy-who-lived. You know that."

"I know, but I saw too much pain in the dream. Yes, it built character and leadership, Albus, but there are other ways to do that. I will raise him away from the wizarding world, but to a point. The ward's on the Black houses should be strong enough. You can help make them stronger if you like, and then when he turns eleven, he can goto Hogwart's."

"You know this is dangerous, Sirius. You would actually put his safety at risk over some small pain that he would get through?"

"An American muggle once said, 'They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.' Harry James Potter WILL have a reasonably normal childhood," Sirius said, and Dumbledore suddenly looked old and weary. "If you aren't willing to help with that, then get out."

Snape smiled to himself when heard that as he strolled into the room. "Here is your potion, Black. Take one now and the other in a few hours. You should be nearly back to full health by tomorrow, but you will still need some rest. I could have improved the flavour without decreasing its effectiveness, but I didn't feel the need to bother," he said handing Sirius two viles of a nasty looking potion.

"I deserve it, and Severus, thank you," Sirius said and downed it without showing any emotion regarding its flavour.

Feeling the effects of the potion almost immediately, he got out of bed and stretched. "If I may, Severus, I'd like to stay in touch with you. Maybe we could get past our differences."

Another stunned moment for Severus Snape, who quickly regained his cool sneer. "I think I can accept that," he said and strode back out of the room.

"Sirius," Dumbledore said finally, "you're right. I'm getting too old. What good is saving a life if that life isn't lived. I'll help anyway I can."

"Well, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you transfigure these rags into fresh robes? And then apparate with me to Olivander's and persuade him to let me get a new wand. I know it's late, but he does seem to like selling wands."

After Dumbledore transfigured the robes, then cast a cleaning spell on Sirius, they went to see Olivander, who was more than happy to sell Sirius a new wand, charging it to the Ministry, of course. They went through about four dozen wands before finding one. By then it was way pass midnight.

Sirius parted company with Dumbledore after he drank his second potion. First, he sent an owl to Remus Lupin asking if they could still be friends of any sort. Then he had another idea to make his life a little more bearable and sent another owl to his cousin Narcissa Black Malfoy. He then headed to Gringott's to check on the Black Family finances, since they never close. Goblins keep such odd hours. After getting two credit cards, one wizard, and one muggle, he transfigured his robes into a pair of jeans, boots, t-shirt, and a leather blazer and took off for muggle London

Thanks to Lily, he was no stranger to muggles. He found a motel and took a deep soothing bath, which could work as many wonders as any potion and get you cleaner than any charm. He wasn't looking forward to doing one certain thing that he needed to do, but after moment's indecision, he decided to put aside his uneasiness, for Harry's sake.

"Kreacher," he called out quietly.

A pop sounded a moment later with the arrival of a very dirty and slightly insane house elf, name Kreacher. The house elf muttered all kinds of obscenities about being in a muggle place and blood traitors until Sirius told him to shut up.

Sirius then had to think for a few minutes how best to make his request so that Kreacher would be least likely to betray him.

"Kreacher, listen. I don't like you, and you don't like me, but that's okay. I still like muggles, but I don't really trust the good intentions of people like Fudge or Dumbledore or any other so called light wizards. If you can do the things I need without grumbling, then I'll give you to the Malfoy family, and you can take the picture of my mother with you.

The elf's eyes brightened so much, he looked even more maniacal than usual.

"I take it, that you're agreeable with that then? You may speak."

"Yes, master. Kreacher is most agreeable to do what you like and take mistress to live with the Malfoy family."

"Good. I want you to put all of the Black Family Dark Arts objects from Gimmauld Place into the family vault. Then remove all of the dark colored wall paper and paint the area underneath it white. Then get rid of the various animals that have taken up residence and then clean all of the paneling and floors and carpeting very thoroughly. I know it's a lot to ask, but you've got powerful magic and I give you permission to use it, just don't be seen by the neighboring muggles. Oh, and you will also take the heads of your ancestors and the other portraits except for Phineas Nigellus Black with you as well. Do that and I will give you to the Malfoy's, after I discuss it with them, of course. No surprises either. Then once you're belong to them, forget all about the Black family. Alright?"

The elf took a moment and finally said, "Yes master," and disappeared with another small pop.

Sirius went to bed, hoping to get some rest before the long day ahead of him. He drifted off to sleep rather quickly. He woke at nearly 8am to an owl tapping on the window. He got up and stretched and realised he felt remarkably refreshed. Probably due to being in a coma for a month he thought.

He let the owl in and removed the large envelope from its leg, after which, the owl promptly took flight again. Inside the envelope, he found his release papers, a formal apology, and both custody and adoption papers from both the wizard and muggle Ministries. The name Harry James Potter Black was written on it, confirming Harry's status as an heir of the Black family. Sirius had to steady himself for a moment.

He whispered a small prayer and promise, "I'll take care of him, James, Lily." Then he gave a short moment of silence in respect, as he remembered, he didn't even get a chance to attend the funeral and say goodbye. After wiping his eyes, he got dressed and prepared to leave.

After checking out, he grabbed some breakfast at the diner next door to the motel. Tipping the waitress and smiling with the Black charm, he asked her where he might get his hair washed and trimmed. Following her directions, he found the hair salon easily. His elbow length hair, though not nearly as long as Dumbledore's, was more greasy than Snape's, and that simply wouldn't do.

"What can I do for you?" the lady at the counter ask when Sirius walked in.

"I fancy a good wash, and trim the tangles off, but keep most of the length, if you could," he said with a flirtatious smile.

She eyed him over with what was clearly a bit of lust and said, "I'd love too."

They made small talk while she played with his hair, and in the end, he had her phone number, though he didn't plan on using it, as Harry was his sole concern right now.

As he was walking down the street deciding that a muggle limousine would be the right way to pick Harry up from Privet Drive, a car passed by blaring the song, "Fade To Black", by Metallica. "I love American muggle music," he muttered to himself. Then he remembered he needed to check on Kreacher's progress and meet with his cousin at noon.

He spotted a telephone and was about to call a taxicab when he glanced across the street and gasped. "Oh yeah," he said to himself and headed in that direction.

He ran his hand slowly over a beautiful brand new Harley Davidson Softail, all black with chrome trim, as a salesman walked up.

"She's a beauty, isn't she?" he said.

"Oh yeah, reminds me of a bike I use to have," Sirius replied as he stroked the fine leather seat.

"I'll make you a good deal on her," the salesman said with confidence.

Sirius walked around the bike, saying nothing, as he took in all of the features; the small saddlebag compartments, the chrome exhaust, and especially the raised passenger seat with the medium height sissy bar, perfect for Harry to sit in without worry of him falling off.

"Care to take her for a spin?" the salesman asked, hope tinging his voice.

Sirius grinned to himself. "Nope, but I will take her home. I have an appointment at noon, so I hope you take plastic."

As a credit card was the same as cash, the salesman was thrilled. He led Sirius back to the sales office fill out the charge slip and to do a small amount of paperwork to transfer title and such. The salesman had never heard of Gringott's Bank before. But a quick phone call for an authorization number, and a half hour later, Sirius was heading down the highway towards number 12, Grimmauld Place on his new bike.

When he was almost there, he stopped at a bookstore. After making sure no one was around, he made his first modification to the bike. He enlarged the inside of the small saddlebag to fit the rather large amount of magazines on muggle home decorations that he bought.

Upon arriving at his family home, Sirius had to stop for a moment. Although he knew of his mother's death from the dream, in reality it had only been two years since she had died. He hadn't seen her since he was 16, when he ran away to live with James. He wasn't sure if she deserved it, but because she was his mother, he gave her a moment of silence as he looked up at the old house.

As he was pulling the bike into the garage, he noticed a woman who appeared to be his neighbor, raking leaves. He smiled and nodded to her before going into the house. He still couldn't get over the fact that a pureblood wizard family would have their house in the middle of a muggle neighborhood. Good thing though, as it would keep Harry out of the spotlight, hopefully.

The place was still quite a bit of a mess, even though Kreacher had apparently done everything that he had told him to do. As he was looking around, noticing that indeed the portraits were gone as were the house elf heads, there came a knock on the door. He glanced at the clock on the wall, it said five till noon.

"Always prompt," he said as he went to open the door.

"Cousin," said Narcissa when he opened the door. "You remember my husband?"

"Of course, cousin. How've you been?" Sirius replied a little coldly, stepping back to let the Malfoy's in.

"Isn't that something we should ask you?" said Lucius Malfoy, just as coldly, looking around at the mess.

"I take it what happened to was in the Daily Prophet this morning?. So tell me, are you agreeable to my request?" Sirius asked.

"All for the Potter boy, Mr. Black? Dobby does seem to have a fondness for him, and he was always a disappointment to me, so yes, an exchange, house elf for house elf." Malfoy said, sneering. "It will be a waste though, you realise that when the Dark Lord returns, Potter won't survive."

"You forget yourself, Lucius, I had a prophetic dream. Harry WILL survive encounters with the Dark Lord many times before he regains a body, and then, the Dark Lord will fall in finality." Sirius lied about the last part, but they wouldn't know that. "I thought you would care more for your son than any wisp of a Lord, because I know that the Dark Lord doesn't hesitate to make children pay for their parents mistakes."

Lucius nearly got a look of shock and regret, but maintained his coolness. "Let's get this over with, Black. Dobby," he called out, followed by a small pop announcing Dobby's arrival.

"Fine, as it was my idea, I shall begin the transfer. Kreacher, come here," Sirius responded without emotion.

Kreacher came in and glared at Dobby, who glared back. Dobby then looked up at Sirius with thankful eyes and nodded.

Sirius looked into Lucius' eyes and clasped right hand to right hand, left to left, and began the ritual. "I, Sirius Black, head of the noble house of Black, give the house elf Kreacher, protector of the noble house of Black, in exchange for the house elf, Dobby."

Lucius' eyes narrowed at the slightly odd way Sirius was phrasing the ritual, but didn't break his gaze. He then responded in kind. "I, Lucius Malfoy, head of the noble house of Malfoy, accept the house elf Kreacher, protector of the noble house of Black, in exchange for the house elf, Dobby."

A dim white light glowed about Sirius, Lucius, Kreacher, and Dobby for a few moments and then faded. "It is done," Sirius and Lucius said in unison.

The Malfoy's and Kreacher left quickly with an odd smile from Narcissa with an equal gleam in Sirius' eyes.

Dobby looked up at Sirius. "Did master know what he just did?"

Sirius smiled. "You bet Dobby, Lucius cannot hurt any member of the Black family now, that includes my cousin Narcissa, and her son Draco."

"Master should have been in Slytherin."

"I don't think so Dobby, I'm just looking out for Harry."

"Tis true then, Master? Harry Potter is going to live with master and I is going to serve him too?"

"Right again, Dobby. Harry is officially and magically a Black now as well. Harry James Potter Black. I got the papers from the Ministry this morning."

"Oh thank you master, thank you. You are a kind master for making this so."

"Please Dobby, you can just call me Sirius. Now as you can see, this place is still a mess with even what Kreacher did to begin fixing it up."

"Yes sir, Sirius, sir."

Sirius just smiled. "Alright, I want you to finishing fixing this place up. I have some general ideas for that. The downstairs kitchen I would like to be made into a rec room with a small kitchenette and bar. Up here on the main floor, expand the back of the house and make a grand kitchen off the dining room. Take all necessary precautions, as we do live in a muggle neighborhood. In the saddlebags of my motorcycle, there are some muggle magazines with design and decoration ideas for muggle houses. Use them as a guide and have a little fun. Don't go too crazy though. Oh and one more thing, the second floor I would like you to make into two bedrooms and two bathrooms. A smaller one for Harry, and a larger one for myself. There is no way I would ever use my mother's master bedroom on the third floor. Connect the two bedrooms with a large door, Harry may need me at times. In the larger bathroom, I want a Jacuzzi, you should find different pictures in the magazines. Also, see if you can figure out a way to get a muggle telephone as well as electrical things like Televisions and stuff to work here. Maybe isolate them from the house's magic or something, I'll leave it to you. Alright?"

The little elf just stood there, looking as if he would break into tears at any moment.

"I'm sorry, Dobby. Is it too much to do? You can take as much time as you need."

"No sir, its just that no wizard has ever trusted Dobby so much. Thank you, sir, thank you," Dobby sobbed out and hugged Sirius' leg.

"That's quite alright, Dobby," Sirius said as he patted the elf on top of the head. "I think maybe you should start with the bedrooms, because Harry will be here tonight. Oh, and keep the light airy white theme that I had Kreacher start for the most part. This place has been too dark and dingy for way too long."

"Yes sir, Dobby will be glad too sir," Dobby said and disappeared with a pop to begin his work.

Sirius heard lots of noise upstairs as Dobby worked on the bedrooms. He could hear Dobby humming to himself with glee, and smiled.

"I'm going next door for a bit before I go pickup Harry," Sirius called up to the house elf.

"Yes sir, Sirius, sir. You goes and has fun and gets Master Harry, sir, I has lots and lots of work to do," the house elf called back down in a delighted tone.

"One more thing, Harry's been living with muggles and doesn't know anything about magic yet. Stay hidden until I can have a talk with him."

"Yes sir, Sirius sir. I don't wants to scare master Harry sir. Now goes, lots of work to do, yes."

Sirius smiled and left to go next door. He knocked lightly and the woman that he saw before answered shortly. Sirius was taken aback. She was quite lovely, with dark red shoulder length hair, and the deepest blue eyes he had ever seen. He shook his head a little, no time for this, Harry comes first.

"I'm sorry to bother you, my names Sirius Black, and I'm just moving in next door and I wonder if I might use your phone."

"Certainly, I'm Rachel Stewart," she said stepping aside to let him in. "The phones on the counter."

"Thank you," Sirius said walking over to the phone. "Er, do you have a phone book?"

"Sure, here ya go," she said, handing it to him.

Sirius was a little confused for a bit but then got the idea and quickly found what he wanted and made the call for a limo rental, it wasn't the weekend, so plenty were available. He gave his credit card number and was informed the driver would be there at 2pm as requested.

"Well, thank you so much Rachel," Sirius said when the call was completed.

"A limo?" she said smiling.

"Yes, er, well..." Sirius stuttered.

"Fancy a cup of tea?" she cut in.

Sirius smiled, "Sure, why not. I've got some time before it gets here."

"I'm glad someone is finally moving in," she said as she went about making tea. "It's been deserted since that crazy old woman died two years ago. I swear I've heard noises though. Really crazy she was too. Made a few insane threats to my little boy when she saw him."

"She was my mother," Sirius said with a chuckle.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I.." she stammered.

"Don't worry about it, Rachel. She was nuts. I left when I was sixteen and haven't been back since."

Rachel relaxed a bit setting a cup of tea in front of him. "So, a limo?" she said again.

Sirius thought for a moment, and decided friendliness was the best option. "Well, okay, I'm just back in town, and I'm going to pick up my...son. He's been living with his aunt and I thought I would impress him, well and his uncle too. His uncle never cared for his wife's family at all, and barely paid me any attention."

"They treated him okay though, didn't they?"

"Not really, that's why I made my mind up that I had to come back. See, his mother died when he was one, and I was too devastated so I just buried myself in work, traveling a lot, and he went to live with them."

"I'm sorry to hear of the loss, how old his he?"

"Thank you. He's seven now. I really wish I could have got back sooner, but, better late than never, I hope," Sirius said with a sad tone.

"My boy is five, his name is Ali, Alister," Rachel said, not really knowing what else to say.

"Thing is, I'm a bit nervous, really. I haven't seen Harry since he was a baby." Sirius replied as the weight of the matter start to hit him. He was a dad now.

Rachel put her hand on his. "You'll do fine. It's obvious that you care for him deeply. It'll be alright. How far do you have to go to pick him up?"

Sirius looked up at her and smiled, thankful for the reassurance. "His aunt lives in Surrey. I hope to get there before he gets home from school. That reminds me, isn't there a school around close?"

"Yes, it's just one street over and down. You can see it from the corner. I thought you grew up here," she said, a little confused.

"Yes, yes I did, but I went to boarding school. Er, would I be imposing if I asked you to help registering him once we're all settled? I really have no clue to what I'm doing," Sirius said hopefully.

"Not at all," she smiled. "I'd be happy too, just let me know, okay?"

Sirius nodded and then heard the sound of a car horn. Sirius glanced at the clock. 2 pm on the dot. "That'll be the limo. Thanks for the tea and everything."

"That's quite alright," she said, walking him to the door. "You might want to be quick about it. The weatherman said a nasty storm was headed this way this evening."

Sirius glanced up at the approaching clouds. "Thanks, hopefully we'll be back long before then." Sirius then climbed into the limo and left to get his godson, er son.

"What is so important that I have to leave work early?" Vernon Dursley bellowed to his wife as he came in the door.

"This," she said and held up a parchment envelope and letter. "It was delivered by an owl this morning," she said nervously, as such things were most unwelcome in the Dursley household.

Vernon just glared at the envelope and letter. It was addressed to,

Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Dursley  
Supposed caretakers of Harry James Potter.  
4 Privet Drive  
Little Whinging  
Surrey

Vernon gulped and then carefully held up the letter, afraid it might explode or something.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dursley,

It has come to our attention that your nephew, one Harry James Potter, placed in your care  
by Albus Dumbledore six years ago, has been mistreated in a shameful way. His godfather,  
one Sirius Black, who was unjustly imprisoned without a trial by the former administration,  
has been cleared and given custody. Mr. Black will arrive today, October 22nd, 1987, to  
collect him.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.  
Cornelius Fudge,  
Minister of Magic

Vernon looked up at his wife with wide eyes. "We're free of him?"

"Yes, dear," she said, although unsure how. Dumbledore's letter had been very clear about taking him in.

"Weeeeeeeeeee," Vernon actually pranced around.

"But dear," she said.

"What is it, Petunia? We're free of him and his kind," he said jovially.

"They know we didn't treat him very well, what if, this Sirius Black, his godfather," She couldn't even finish the sentence as Vernon went white. They both just fell onto the sofa to wait.

As time ticked slowly by Vernon had a thought, for the first time, "What if he just takes Harry and leaves? When do the boys usually get home anyway?"

"About 4," she said quietly.

Vernon glanced at the clock, it was nearly 3:30 now. "Well, good, I'm sure he won't do anything in front of Harry, so let's just hope he doesn't get here first," he said as they got up and went to the window to watch and wait.

Just then they saw a long, black, limousine pull up and stop directly in front of their house. They both gulped and nearly fainted at the sight. A very tall, handsome man stepped out, looking nothing so much as a rockstar. Jeans, black t-shirt, black boots, and black leather blazer, with his long black hair tied back in a ponytail. He immediately headed for the front door, causing them both to nearly black out again.

Ding dong came the doorbell causing them both to jump. Vernon pulled his wife behind him as he opened the door.

Sirius just glared at them with a wicked smile. "Sirius Black. I'm here to pickup my godson, Harry Potter. I believe that he shouldn't be home from school yet, is that right?" They both just nodded and stepped back as he walked in.

Once the door was shut, Sirius whipped out his wand and cast a spell. "That was a magic anti-tracking charm," he said. "Please have a seat, we have things to discuss."

They both went pale again as they sat down numbly on the sofa. Sirius took the chair across from them and relaxed, wand pointing straight at them.

"What time will Harry be home?" Sirius asked politely, an almost cheerful tone in his voice.

"F..four o'clock," Petunia stuttered.

"Good," Sirius said, twittering his wand in his fingers.

Vernon finally found his voice and said, "So you'll just be getting Harry and leaving us alone?"

"Oh, I don't think so," Sirius responding condescendingly. "You would just let a stranger take my godson away? I know about the cupboard, by the way."

Vernon held up the letter and stammered out, "letter...knew you were coming...no other place for Harry."

"Oh no, it's not that easy," Sirius sneered with an evil gleam in his eyes. "Your fat bully of a son has a second bedroom for his broken and wasted toys I believe. And you could have asked for identification."

Sirius pulled out a driver's license and held it up. "I may be a wizard, but I do many things the muggle way."

"Now then, for your punishment," Sirius continued and they both gulped. "Oh don't worry, I don't think I'll do anything visible. Harry's father and I were quite the pranksters when we were at school. James was much better at transfiguration, but I'm willing to give it a try, if I mess up, oh well. Now, since it concerns the treatment of a child, how about I make it so you can't have anymore children, hmm?"

Sirius grinned evilly and waived his wand in a series of complicated movements. A flash followed by a scream as Vernon's and Petunia's lower external genitals were swapped with each other.

"Ah I believe Harry should be coming up the street by now and got up to look.

"Change us back, please," Vernon pleaded.

"Behave yourselves and I'll consider it," Sirius said, although he had put a timer in the spell as well as the magic anti-tracking charm, they would reverse in an hour, but he wasn't going to tell them that.

Dudley punched Harry in the gut to the cheers of his gang as they walked home from school.

"Please, leave me alone," Harry pleaded to no avail.

Dudley's gang kept pushing him back and forth as Dudley kept taunting him.

Why won't they leave me alone, Harry thought as he tried to walk faster, but between his oversize hand-me-down clothes from his cousin Dudley, and Piers Polkiss, Dudley's best friend, he couldn't do anything. They turned the corner and were almost home before noticing the limo in front of the house. Dudley's gang were in awe, asking him who it belonged to, forgetting about Harry for the moment.

Harry walked up to it in awe himself. He dared to hope that his dream last night was coming true. At seven years old, believing in dreams was still possible, even with the Dursley's trying to stomp his imagination out of him.

Dudley saw the dreamy look on Harry's face. "It's no one for you, freak," he said, pushing him down onto the pavement, his school books and papers going everywhere. He scraped his hands and broke his glasses. Again.

Dudley started taunting him again as Harry started to cry a little, trying to hold it back but failing. Dudley's gang just started laughing and pointing.

Then the door opened causing them all to look up. There stood the owner of the limo it would seem. Dudley puffed himself up as much as he could and started up the walk toward the house as the stranger started walking toward them.

Everyone got a big surprise, especially Dudley when the stranger pushed Dudley down as he walked passed and kneeled in front of Harry.

"Harry? Are you alright?" the stranger said in the kindest voice to Harry, who was so stunned that he stopped crying as he looked up at the man.

Harry nodded and said, "Are you here to rescue me? I had a dream last night that someone, some uncle was gonna come and rescue me."

"I'm your godfather, Harry. My name is Sirius. Your father was my best friend in the whole world, and yes, I'm here to take you away from these bad people. No more living in that ruddy cupboard under the bloody stairs. You'll get your own room thats as big as this house. I'm sorry it took so long to get here, but I'm here now," he said as the tears slowly rolled down his cheek.

Harry watched as Sirius pulled out an official looking document that said it granted permanent adoption to Sirius Black of Harry James Potter Black.

"James?" Harry asked in confusion.

"That's your middle name, Harry. It was your father's name. I had no idea your aunt and uncle never told you that," Sirius said feeling the anger bubbly up in him.

Sirius stood Harry up and hugged him for the longest time as Harry's happy tears rolled down his cheeks. Sirius stood up holding Harry in his arms, towering over the seven year old boys that made up Dudley's gang.

They stood there in awe as Sirius looked down at them. Sirius then growled out, "You shouldn't pick on other kids like that."

Piers actually wet himself before taking off with the others. Dudley finally realised that this man was a freak too and got up as fast as his chubby legs would let him and ran into the house yelling for his mommy.

Harry asked as Sirius and he got into the limo, "What about my books, glasses, and stuff?"

"Don't worry about it, you're getting all new stuff and new glasses, and you'll be going to a new school in London," Sirius said with a warming smile as he wiped away Harry's tears with his thumb. "But we should probably return the books to your school and turn in your homework for credit."

They got back out and started picking up the papers that were flying about. Sirius looked up and saw the three Dursley's standing on the porch, watching with trepidation.

"Why don't you go back inside, and stop staring, Dursley. You won't hurt my SON ever again," Sirius barked out loud enough for the neighbors, who had been peeking out of their doors at the limo, to hear.

The Dursley's quickly ducked back inside in fear and embarrassment.

One of the boys from Dudley's gang had been hiding behind the bushes finally came over and started helping. "I'm sorry for what Dudley made us do, Harry," he said timidly, sadly. "I ain't gonna be his friend no more."

"Thanks, Dean," Harry said and gave him a weak smile.

"Mister," Dean said handing a few books and papers to Sirius, "is Harry still gonna go to our school?"

"I'm afraid not. I have a house in London, and there's a school just down the street."

"I wish I coulda been your friend the whole time, Harry. Bye," Dean said sadly as he started to walk away. Then stopped and turned around. "My cousin Ali lives in London, he's only five but maybe you'll go to his school."

Sirius looked up, "Is his mother's name Rachel?"

"Yeah, you know them?" Dean said, hopefully.

"Yeah, she lives next door to me. I haven't met Ali yet, because I just moved in, but I did meet Rachel," Sirius said, smiling. "She's really nice."

"Cool, maybe I'll see you sometime then, Harry?" Dean said hoping he had made friends.

"Yeah, alright, Dean," Harry finally said, and he and Sirius climbed back into the limo, waving goodbye to Dean.

As they pulled away, Sirius thought about what Dudley did, and gave a slight wave of his hidden wand toward the house. From in the limo, they couldn't hear the scream escape Dudley's throat as a curly pig tail suddenly poked through his trousers on his fat backside. Sirius smiled again as this spell did NOT have a timer.

As they rode rode down the highway Harry just stared at Sirius in disbelief. He couldn't believe that it was really true.

Sirius kept staring back, smiling. "Yes, Harry it's really true. You're never going back to the Dursley's," he finally said, causing Harry to wonder if he could read minds.

Harry then pulled out a paper from the pile.

"What's that, Harry," Sirius asked.

"I drew this picture during art today. It's the man that I saw in my dream coming to rescue me," he said and handed the picture to Sirius.

Sirius stared unbelievingly at the picture drawn in crayon. A tall man with long black hair, wearing what Sirius himself was wearing, and holding what was unmistakably, a wand. "What's that in his hand, Harry?"

"A stick, I don't know what it's for, but he had it in the dream," Harry responded with innocence in his eyes.

"It's a wonderful picture, Harry. It does look kinda like me doesn't it?"

Harry nodded and sat still for a few minutes. "What was my mom and dad like?" Harry finally asked quietly.

Sirius pulled out a picture that he had of his friends. He had spelled it to not move like a normal wizard picture. He showed it to Harry.

Harry looked at it closely. He saw a tall man with messy dark hair and glasses just like himself. He was standing next to a pretty woman with brilliant green eyes holding a baby with the same eyes. Behind them stood his godfather grinning madly with his arms around the shoulders of his parents.

Harry reached into Sirius' inside pocket and pulled out the adoption certificate. He held his glasses to his face and read it again. Harry James Potter Black. After studying it for a few minutes he set it and the picture down and climbed into Sirius lap and hugged him around the neck. "Thank you for being my new daddy," he whispered and drifted off to sleep.

The driver looked back and smiled a crooked smile, making the lines in his old face even more twisted. "You'll do right by that boy, won't you?" he whispered back.

"Of course, he's my friend's son. I won't let anything happen to him," Sirius replied, smiling.

"That's good," the driver croaked out softly. "You gotta practise constant vigilance with deatheaters still out there."

Sirius looked up suddenly at that as the driver took off his hat and turned around, to be seen clearly.

I know that face Sirius thought for a moment. "Moody? What the hell are you driving a limo for? How are you driving a limo, for that matter?"

"I'm no stranger to muggle devices, Black. Dumbledore asked me to keep watch when you went to get the Potter boy. Sad thing, those bloody muggles. If it were me, I would'a cursed'em."

Moody smile when Sirius blushed. "Good man. They're what give muggles a bad name I tell ya."

Moody started get loud until Sirius shushed him. "Sorry," he whispered. "I just wanna tell ya that it didn't sit right with me you bein' sent off to Azkaban. I said you and James were too close for such a thing to happen, but they just brushed me aside, and finally forced me to retire."

"I appreciate the sentiment, Moody. Thanks."

"No problem. Dumbledore wants me to move across the street from you to that house thats for sale. I told him I'd think about it. I really wanted to talk to you first, get your thoughts."

"Meddling old coot, I told him I would ask for help if I needed it."

"Just as I thought, but still, it couldn't hurt ya know. Decent neighborhood too, from what I could tell. constant vigilance, Black. You should consider it, for the boy's sake."

"Yeah, I know, but I wouldn't want Dumbledore to get anymore bright ideas. I want Harry to have a normal quiet life until Hogwart's."

"Don't worry about that, I'll set Dumbledore straight."

"Thanks, in that case, I would love for you to move across the street. I might even have you tell Harry some of your old auror stories."

"You gotta deal, then. I think I might just have to play grandpa a bit a spoil that boy rotten for ya."

"Oh, no you don't. He needs to stay as grounded as possible. So if there's gonna be any spoilin done, I'm gonna do it."

They both chuckled quietly, so as not to wake Harry, who was still pleasantly asleep in Sirius' lap.

Harry woke up when they were nearly there and looked up at Sirius and smiled. "I thought maybe it was the dream again, but you're still here."

"Yep, still here, and I'm not going anywhere. You hungry? Should we maybe stop at, er, what's that place with the clown?"

"McDonald's? Yeah, let's stop," Harry yelled out and start squirming around. "I've only been there once, but it was good."

"Moody, you know where it is?"

Having returned his hat to hide most of his face, he said, "Yeah, I know the place. Be there in a bit."

They spent nearly an hour there while Moody waited in the car. Harry talked more than he ate as he looked around, fascinated by everything.

Sirius just watched and listened with a smile. The boy was so starved for attention and affection. No interaction with anyone or anything it seemed. How could that bitch Petunia do that to her sister's kid? I should have made that curse permanent, Sirius thought. Or maybe even give them pig tails too.

When the finally got home, they bid Moody goodbye and headed into the house. Harry just looked up in awe at how big it was.

"This house has been my family for generations, Harry," Sirius explained. "I'm having it redone, so its still kind of messy." he said once they were inside. It seemed that Dobby hadn't really touched the main floor yet. "Our bedrooms are on the second floor," he said as he led Harry up the stairs.

"Wow," is all Harry could say as he looked around.

Harry was left speechless as was Sirius when they got to the top of the stairs and looked about. Dobby really did a wonderful job. On one side of the hall, was the elaborate banister overlooking the stairs. On the other side at either end were two doors. One to each bedroom. At the far end next to the door, was the other stairway that continued to the upper floors.

The first door Sirius discovered was his bedroom. It was easily 40 feet long by 40 feet wide. The left wall had a large fireplace as well as a door leading to the master bath with the jacuzzi in it. To the immediate left, next to the hall door was a large screen television. Apparently Dobby was successful at getting muggle electronics to work. On the far wall across from them, there was a window and glass doors leading to a terrace overlooking the back yard A Kingsize bed stood in the center of the right hand wall, with a night stand on either side. Next to the night stand nearest them, was the door that led to Harry's room.

Going through it they found a smaller, and nearly mirror image of the first bedroom. In the wardrobe next to the T. V. they found a large selection of muggle clothes in Harry's size.

How did Dobby do that? Sirius thought just as Harry asked, "How did you know my sizes?"

Sirius knelt down and whispered, "Magic."

Harry's eyes grew wide as he dared to believe that magic could exist, as his uncle had always drummed it into him that magic didn't exist, even in the face of the weird things the sometimes would happen around Harry.

"Well," Sirius said, still kneeling beside Harry, "I think it's time for good little boys to be in bed." He stood up and looked down at Harry. He wasn't really sure what he was supposed to do now. Harry seemed so small, even smaller then the other boys of the same age.

Harry just looked up at Sirius, a little confused as well. No one ever really cared about him before, and it showed on his face.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I'm really new at this too. But I promise you, I do love you and I will take care of you."

Harry looked as if he was about to cry again, so Sirius picked him up in a hug. "Perhaps you should get a bath and we'll get rid of Dudley's old clothes. How's that sound?" he said as he carried him into the bathroom. "Er, can you handle it yourself, or do you need, er, want some help?"

Harry looked at the floor and mumbled something that Sirius couldn't understand.

Sirius knelt down and lifted Harry's chin to meet his gaze. "It's alright, Harry, you can tell me."

"Aunt Petunia always made me do it myself and then would yell at me cause I didn't do it good enough."

A surge of hatred towards the Dursley's swept through him to be replaced quickly by compassion for Harry. "Alright, how about I give you a hand then, only on the difficult stuff?"

"Okay," Harry nodded with a slight smile.

Sirius turned on the taps to a good temperature and added bubble bath as Harry pulled off Dudley's old clothes. Once the tub was full enough for a seven year old, Harry climbed in.

Harry spoke as Sirius washed his hair. "Can I grow my hair like yours?"

"Sure Harry," Sirius smiled and used a pitcher to rinse off the shampoo.

Sirius then showed Harry how to lather up the wash cloth really well, and then washed his back for him, before handing him the cloth so he could finish up himself.

"Make sure you wash everywhere really good, while I go get you some pyjamas, alright?" Sirius said and Harry nodded.

Sirius returned after he thought he gave Harry enough time to clean himself good. "Alright Harry?" Sirius said as he set the pj's down.

"Yeah," Harry said almost sadly as he finished rinsing off by ducking completely under the water.

"What's the matter, Harry," Sirius said, wrapping him in a big fluffy towel.

"Would you get mad at me if I called you dad?" Harry asked quietly.

"Absolutely not, Harry. I would be proud to have you call me dad," Sirius said softly.

Harry relaxed a little then, but clearly had something else on his mind.

"What else is it, Harry," Sirius continued as he hugged him.

"That," he whispered as he melted into Sirius. "Harry is what my other family called me. I wanna be called by my dad's name. And I figured I would use my new last name too." He turned around and looked up at Sirius through his mother's green eyes.

"That's more than fine, Harry, I mean James," he said with a smile, James relaxed fully then.

"Now then, JAMES, like I said before, it's time for good little boys like yourself to be in bed, okay? I'll leave the door open between our rooms if you need me. Get your pj's on and I'll be back in a bit and I'll tuck you in."

James gave a big smile to that, as no one ever tucked him in before. "Thanks, dad."

Sirius smiled and left, heading up to the third floor. Once he was there, he whispered, "Dobby?"

"Yes sir, Sirius, sir," Dobby said after he popped in.

"You did a wonderful job, Dobby, thank you. I can't wait to see what you got planned for the rest of house. And thanks for getting Harry, I mean James those clothes."

"Yes sir. Dobby is glad to do it. How come master James' other family treated him so bad?"

"You heard?" Sirius commented and Dobby's ears drooped. "No it's okay, you're allowed to listen in, really. Unless I'm planning a surprise party for you, that his," Sirius said with a mischievous smile. "I need you to listen in, I think it could help Ha.. James, you know?"

"Yes sir, Dobby will love to help."

"Alright, I'll see you later," Sirius said and went back to James' bedroom.

He found the boy under the covers already, patiently waiting.

"Hey, Pronglet, ready to get a good night's sleep?" Sirius said as he walked over to the bed.

"Pronglet?" James questioned.

"I don't even know why I said that. It really just slipped out. Your father's nickname in school was Prongs, so, er, I don't know, it seemed to fit."

James thought for a moment, then said, "I like it, but I think, only you can call me that dad."

"You betcha Pronglet. Now remember if you need anything, just come and get me, okay?"

"Okay, g'night dad," James said.

"Good night, son," Sirius said and kissed James on top of the head before going to his own room to sleep. Man, what a long day, Sirius thought before grabbing a quick shower and climbing in bed.

Sirius lay there for a while thinking about everything when he heard the first clap of thunder from the promised storm. He looked over at the clock, nearly midnight. "Hmmm, muggle weathermen," he mumbled to himself before snuggling down to sleep.

He heard the rain begin and a few more claps of thunder in his half asleep state. Soon there was a big flash, quickly followed by very loud, house shaking thunder. It was enough to cause him to sit up. In Azkaban, the outside sounds never made it through, so it was kind of startling. Then he heard the pad, pad, pad of small feet coming from his left. He looked over to see James standing there, looking a little frightened.

"I didn't remember where I was," he said in a small voice.

"It's alright, James, it kinda scared me too. C'mon," he said and held open the covers.

James quickly scampered in and snuggle close to Sirius. Another loud thunderclap and they both jumped and then giggled at themselves before settling down to sleep.

As he held James in a protective embrace, Sirius tried to think of how to tell him the truth. The wizard part should be easy, but he most definitely won't be able to handle the murder. Not so soon after such a big change. He would take it slow, maybe, and yes, he would ask Arther Weasley for help. Definitely Arthur, Molly would be too overprotective, he thought. Since he didn't have an owl yet, he would send Dobby with the message tomorrow. For now, they would sleep in peace, as the storm rumbled around them. After all, it had really been a long day.


	2. Back In Black

_Wow, I have chapters half written for my other stories, but this one wont let me go. Thanks for the reviews. I hope you like it._

"**Unveiling The Future"**

**Chapter 2, "Back In Black"**

Sirius woke from a restful, dreamless sleep, and slowly opened his eyes. James was just staring at him and smiling. "How long you been awake?" he asked.

"I don't know. A while I guess." James just kept smiling.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"I'm glad you came and rescued me from them," James replied.

Sirius kissed his forehead and said, "Well, I gotta pee and we have to do some stuff today."

Sirius went to his bathroom while James went to his. Sirius looked around, as he really didn't pay close attention last night. The bathroom really was huge. The ceiling was easily 15 feet high. A large sink and vanity against stood against the left wall, which acted like a divider. Around the corner from that was another room. To the left directly behind the sink was the toilet. Over from that was a large shower, and a spacious tub. Back across from the sink, under green house style windows, was a very large jacuzzi. The windows were facing the back yard with a multitude of plants either setting on the large sill, or hanging from the skylights.

The storm from the previous night had burned itself out and streaming sunshine filled the bathroom. Sirius finished his morning hygiene and walked out on the terrace overlooking the back yard. Breathing in the clean fresh air, watch as the many trees and foliage swayed in the breeze. He soon felt an arm around his waist. He put his arm around James' shoulders and hugged him close as they just stared out at the yard and the brightening blue sky.

"Well, James, I imagine that you probably have a lot of questions. Many of them, though, you're probably to young to hear. I don't really know. What I do know, is that I don't want to you to get hurt by any of the answers I might give." Sirius looked down at James, who smiled back in trust. "But first, I think we should get some breakfast. What do ya think?"

James nodded and let Sirius pick him up and carry him downstairs.

"Hey, you're hair grows pretty fast," Sirius noticed as James' hair was now shoulder length.

"Yeah, the same thing happened last week. Vernon made me get a hair cut, but my hair was still messy so he practically sheered it of. The next day though, it was back to what it was before. It was really weird."

"It looks good, I think," Sirius said, but was amazed because human transfiguration was one of the hardest branches of magic to learn.

They made their way downstairs, through the nearly complete dining room and into the kitchen. Sirius set James down on the counter and couldn't help but look around. The room was about twenty feet wide, and at least forty feet long. At the far end of the kitchen, against the wall facing the back yard, was a rather large breakfast nook. More of a small dining room really, halfway extending into the back yard with another greenhouse style window. The table could easily sit eight people. Four against the window, which had a bench seat under it, and four chairs on the kitchen side of the table.

The kitchen itself was done all in stainless steal. It had all of the latest muggle appliances arranged in a very functional way.

Sirius broke the silence first. "So what shall we have for breakfast then?" he said, opening the large restaurant sized refrigerator, to find it fully stocked with nearly everything anyone could want.

"Aunt Petunia would only let me have cold cereal. So that's fine, really," James said, looking down at his feet.

Damn them, Sirius thought. "How about hotcakes? Have you ever had them?"

James looked up in hope. "No, but..." he started to say but trailed off.

"What is it, Pronglet?"

"She made me help make them, but I wasn't allowed to have any. I did sneak some though, I liked it."

"Hotcakes it is then," Sirius said, hiding his anger.

Although Sirius knew a lot about muggles, he was a bit useless in the kitchen. With James helping though, they had a grand time, and made a large mess. Flour everywhere, including the two budding chefs. In the end, though, their breakfast of hotcakes and sausage turned out very good.

They were laughing and talking when there was a knock at the door, and Sirius got a little suspicious. "Who is it?" he said when he and James had made their way to the door.

"Its Rachel," came the reply. Sirius relaxed and opened the door.

Rachel started chuckling at the sight of them, covered in flour, and assorted other ingredients. "I was gonna invite you two for breakfast, but it appears you have eaten, that is if any of it made it inside your mouth."

Sirius and James looked at each other at started laughing too. Sirius picked James up and said, "Rachel, this is my son James Black, James, this is our neighbor, Rachel Stewart."

"Pleased to meet you ma'am," James said and held out his hand.

"You are so polite. The pleasure is mine, young man," she replied, shaking his hand.

Sirius set James back on his feet and they both led Rachel to the kitchen.

"My goodness," she chuckled again at the sight of the kitchen. "You two are dangerous with a spatula, I think."

Sirius and James blushed as they all sat down at the nook, which was the only place not covered in flour.

"So you're Dean's aunt," James asked with a touch of fear.

Rachel picked up on that. "Not all aunts are mean, James," she replied soothingly. "So, I take it you were in Dean's class then?"

"Yes, he used to, er, nothing." James quickly filled his mouth with another sausage.

"He picked on you, did he?" She said softly but sternly.

James swallowed quickly and said, "Don't say anything to him, please. It was my cousin's fault, really. He even said he was sorry when we left yesterday."

"Alright, James, I won't say anything. He's coming to visit this weekend, perhaps you can play together."

James grinned and said, "Cool."

They chatted for a bit more and then she left, commenting on how they could possibly dirty a kitchen this large was beyond her. Sirius' response was that they tried really hard.

"Alright, let's get cleaned up, and then we can go get your new glasses, okay?" Sirius as they went up stairs to change clothes.

"Dad," James said, "can I get contacts?"

"If you want, sure."

They went to their respective rooms and changed. Sirius grabbed his leather jacket and headed to James' room to find him combing his hair and trying to tie it up in a ponytail.

"Dad, can you help?" James pleaded, and Sirius smiled and showed him how to do it.

"Alright, grab a jacket and we'll go," Sirius said as he slid on pair of sunglasses.

James went over to his wardrobe and looked a bit, then smiled and pulled out a jacket just like Sirius' jacket and slipped it on. He found a pair of sunglasses in the pocket and quickly slipped them on as well. He turned to Sirius and said, "Okay, lets go." And led Sirius down the stairs.

"Go through that door, to the garage, James, I'll be there in a minute," Sirius said pointing to a door at the bottom of the staircase.

When James had gone through the door, Sirius called Dobby, who immediately appeared.

"Dobby, you're doing a great job on the house. Could you get a message to Arthur Weasley? See if he could visit maybe tomorrow and maybe even bring his son Ron, because I'm still not too sure how to tell James about magic and what happened to his parents."

"Dobby is glad to help, Sirius, sir," Dobby said happily nodding his head fiercely, and disappeared.

Sirius went to the garage to find James just staring at the bike, a mixture of excitement and fear on his face.

"Don't worry, James, I won't go too fast unless you want me too. It's really safe," he said as he picked James up and sat him down on the rear seat, and bent down to adjust the rear foot pegs. When James wasn't looking, he cast a quick charm to keep him from falling off, just in case.

"There, see?" Sirius said as he climbed in front and started it up.

James wiggled a bit and relaxed some, but was still a little nervous.

"See those straps on the back of my jacket? Hold onto those, okay? I won't let you fall off, James, I promise."

James held on really tight as they pulled out into the driveway. They saw a large purple moving van across the street the words 'Knight Movers' on the side.

"Isn't that the guy that drove the limo?" James asked and pointed to a man with a hat hiding most of his face, who was standing back, watching the movers unload the truck.

Sirius looked over and said, "Sure is, James," and they both waived at him.

He waived back as they slowly pulled into the street and left. They hadn't gone a mile before James' fear was completely gone and he was begging to go faster.

"We're already at the speed limit, James. We can't go any faster," Sirius said with a chuckle Just wait till I enchant this thing to fly, he thought.

It wasn't long before the found the optometrist's office, and the ride came to an end. They parked the bike and went in, James swinging on Sirius' arm, chattering about how much fun it was.

"Aren't you two adorable," the receptionist said, noticing their identical clothes when they went in.

"Thank you," Sirius said. "We don't have an appointment, but my son James needs a new pair of glasses," he said pulling out the broken pair. "He wants to switch to contacts, though."

"He would still need an eye exam, but the doctor's morning is clear, so I'll just pencil you in and let the doctor know, alright?" she smiled at James, who immediately blushed, and tried to hide behind Sirius.

"Thank you," Sirius smiled and led James over to some seats.

It wasn't long before the receptionist came back out. "The doctor will see you now," she said and gave James and Sirius a wink before showing them to the examination room.

After the exam, the doctor said it was a very mild prescription and that the contacts would be ready in an hour.

Sirius and James went across the street to a diner and had lunch while they waited for the contacts to be ready. Once they had the contacts, and the doctor showed James how to put them in and take care them, they were off. It was still early, just a little after noon, so Sirius decided to take James to an amusement park. They had a brilliant time, Sirius enjoying the freedom as much as James. By the time they got back home, it was nearly 10pm and James was half asleep on the back of the bike. Sirius had to keep waking him up to hold on all the way home. Time to get a car, he thought.

He carried James up to his room and dressed him in his pyjamas, James not even noticing as he was pretty much out of it by then. He put him in his bed and kissed him goodnight before heading to his own bed.

Sirius fell asleep almost pretty quickly himself. A seven year old boy filled with cotton candy can be a handful. A pleasant handful though, Sirius thought and smiled as he let sleep take him.

Sirius woke to find James snuggled up next to him, still out like a light. He kissed him on the head and got up to take care of business. It was still kind of early, so Sirius let him sleep, and went down to have get breakfast ready and check out Dobby's progress on the house.

When he got downstairs, he just stopped and stared. Everything was done. The entrance hall was beautiful. Light and inviting. The sitting room was very comfortable, and the dining room could seat 20 people easily.

He found that Dobby had also cleaned the kitchen so that it was spotless again. He went down the stairs that were off the left side of the breakfast nook and found a rec room with a pool table, another big screen TV and a fully stocked wet bar.

"Excellent," Sirius said before turning to go back up to the kitchen. "Dobby?"

"Yes sir, Sirius, sir? Did Dobby do alright?"

"You did brilliantly, Dobby," Sirius said. "Did Arthur say he would come?"

"Yes sir, he says he would love to come and bring Ron. Dobby told him to comes for breakfast, is that okay, sir?" he said nervously.

"Thats fine, Dobby. You did very well," Sirius said with a grin and Dobby grinned widely, before bowing and starting breakfast for everyone.

Shortly, there was a knock on the door. Sirius pulled out his wand just in case and went to answer the door. "Who is it?" he called.

"Arthur Weasley," came the response.

Sirius relaxed and opened the door.

Arthur noticed the wand and said with a smile, "Expecting a deatheater, Sirius?"

"Constant vigilance, Arthur, come on in. You use the Ford Anglia to get here?" he said leading them into the sitting room.

"You're sounding like Moody now. Yes indeed, great car. This is my youngest son, Ron," Arthur said.

"Hello Ron, please to meet you. James is still asleep, though. I took him to an amusement park last night. Wore him out a bit, I think." Ron nodded but remained silent as he looked around at how big this house was.

"An amusement park, really?" Arthur said with wide eyes. "That's fascinating. I love the way muggles get along you know."

"I know indeed, Arthur. I know a lot really, the dream, you know," Sirius said a little down and Arthur just nodded. "What I don't know, is how to tell James about magic or what really happened to his parents."

"He don't know about magic?" Ron finally spoke.

"I'm afraid not, his muggle relatives never told him anything but lies. I was hoping that you and your dad could help me tell him about magic at least. As far as James, Lily, and you-knowwho, well I really have no idea how to tell him about that."

"Molly says he's too young to hear about you-know-who, Sirius, and I agree. Ron only knows because he grew up with the stories. But with magic, and his sudden change of homes, it would probably be too much."

"I was afraid of that. At least we can tell him about magic a good 4 years before he found out in my dream."

"That's so weird," Ron said. "How could anyone not know about magic?"

"The same way you don't really know about how muggles live, Ron," Sirius said.

"My dad loves muggles, I don't see what's so special."

"You will when James shows you his video game system and the TV," Sirius said, smiling.

"You have a TV?" Arthur said, eyes going wide again, "How?"

"Dobby," Sirius said plainly. "This may be a pureblood house, but we're in a muggle neighborhood, and I wanted James to grow up, familiar with both, so I asked Dobby to try, and he did. I don't really know how, probably his own special kind of magic has a lot to do with it, but, there you go."

James rolled over and stretched, opening his eyes. He bolted upright, feeling the empty bed. He scrambled out of bed and ran to the door. Hearing voices downstairs, he relaxed and went to his room to use the bathroom and get dressed. He looked in the mirror after putting in his contact lenses and combing his hair. Finding it satisfactory, he grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and put them on, along with his black converse trainers. He stared at himself in the full length mirror with approval. No more baggy hand-me-downs. Nice new clothes for a change. He looked...normal. He ran his finger along the lightning shaped scar on his forehead, and wondered if his parents really died in a car crash. Maybe it was one of those things he needed to be older to hear. That would be okay. He had a dad now, and he would make them okay. His real dad's best friend promised. He smiled at his reflection and headed down to meet whoever it was the was visiting.

As he made his way downstairs, he heard talking coming from the sitting room. It had been a mess the last time he saw it and he wondered how it could have been cleaned up so fast. He heard a stranger sound surprised that they had a TV, but even stranger was his dad's answer.

He walked in a startled a bit at how clean and nice the room was. A tall thin man with balding red hair was sitting across from his dad on a plush sofa. Next to him sat a tall skinny boy with bright red hair that appeared to be his own age. They were both dressed...a little odd, but reasonably normal he guessed as he looked at their trousers and shirts. He walked around and climbed onto an equally plush sofa, and snuggled in shyly next to his dad.

"Hey there sleepy head," Sirius said putting an arm around James. "Have a good sleep?" he asked to which James just nodded. "This is Arthur Weasley and his son, Ron. I asked them to drop by to help me tell you some things that you need to know."

James looked up with curious eyes. "Like how this room got done so fast?" he asked innocently.

"Yep," Sirius replied. "Well, here goes, I guess." Sirius looked over at Arthur who nodded reassuringly. "Remember when you asked about your clothes and I said magic?"

"Yeah, you mean it really was magic?" James said, his eyes widening.

Sirius smiled. "Yep, you see, you're a wizard, I'm a wizard, and Arthur and Ron are wizards too."

James just looked at them all for a moment as he thought about this. "You mean...I'm not normal? That Dudley was right?" he said finally, a tinge of fear creeping into his voice.

The smile faded from his face as Sirius realised this was about to go horribly wrong. "It's okay, James. There are lots of wizards around. You ARE normal. A normal wizard."

"But he's a famous wizard," Ron said without thinking, and then realised his mistake and looked at the floor. "Oops."

"But I don't wanna be a freak. Dudley called me a freak and he was right," James said as tears started to fall.

"You're not a freak," Sirius said and hugged James tighter. "Being a wizard is normal for all of us. You can do magic as a wizard."

"But I thought I was gonna be just a regular kid now," he sobbed out, the tears flowing freely now.

Ron looked a little shocked because magic was normal to him. "Mr. Black, show him what you can do. I saw in the paper that you were an animagus."

James looked over at this weird kid. "Animagus?" he sniffled.

"Yeah," Ron said. "Some wizards can turn into animals. He can turn into a dog. Show him, I think it's cool."

James turned quickly back to Sirius and pulled away in fear. "You can turn into a dog?" he said, his sobs filled with fear.

"It's okay, not all wizards choose to learn how," Sirius said, trying to reassure him, but it didn't work.

James got up and ran to his room, sobbing, "I don't wanna be a freak."

They heard the door slam upstairs and just looked at each other.

"That went well," Arthur said.

Sirius just put his head in his hands. "I don't know what to do. I'm failing him. Again."

"No you're not, Sirius. Trust me. I have seven children and these things happen. It'll work itself out. Won't it Ron?"

"Yeah," Ron said and got up and walked over to Sirius and sat down. He patted his shoulder and said, "Sometimes I feel that way too. When I do, I just stay alone for a while till I can work it out in my head. It'll be alright."

Sirius looked up at Ron and smiled thankfully. "How did you get so smart?"

Ron smiled and said, "My mum and dad, of course."

Arthur beamed proudly at his son. "Tell you what, Sirius. Molly and I talked about it before we left. If you like, we'll stay here for the rest of the weekend to be here for you and James. He will come around, and I'm sure he'll want another wizard his own age to talk to when he does."

"Thanks, Arthur, you have no idea how much I appreciate it."

Arthur came over and put his arm around Ron and said, "Actually, I think I do."

During all of the goings on, no one noticed the two red headed nine year olds hiding in the shadows listening to it all. They looked at each other and nodded and slowly crept up the stairs to James' bedroom and went in.

James was lying face down on his bed crying. He heard someone come into his room and sobbed into the pillow, "Go away, I don't wanna be a freak."

"What's wrong with being a freak," the twins said in unison, cause James to quickly look up and stop crying.

"Who are you?" James said wiping his eyes.

"I'm Fred," said one twin.

"And I'm George," said the other.

"That's our dad and little brother down there."

"We hid in the boot of the car because..."

"We knew you'd need..."

"To talk to us," they said, finishing each others sentences.

James just looked back and forth between them. "You're wizards too?"

"Of course. Lots of fun..."

"That is. Being a freak can be..."

"Fun if you know how."

"Stop that," James said."

"Stop what?" they said together.

"Fine. So why would you want to be a freak?" James asked.

"Being normal is dull, even if you're a..."

"Wizard. I mean you can be what ever..."

"You want. No matter that you're parents were killed..."

"By the Dark Lord..."

"Voldemort," they said without flinching.

James just looked at them. "My real parents were killed by a..."

"Dark wizard..." they said.

"But when he tried to kill..."

"You, it backfired and killed him. And now you're..."

"Famous for taking him out."

James kept staring at them, taking this all in. "But I was hoping to be normal. I don't wanna be famous."

"Well, it's like we said..."

"Before. Choose to be normal. You can pretend to be a muggle kid..."

"That means non magic kid when you're at school, kind of like a spy..."

"And around wizards, you can choose to ignore being famous, even if you are..."

"Harry Potter, the boy who lived."

"But I'm not Harry Potter, I don't like that name because of my aunt and uncle. I'm James Black," James said defiantly.

"Now you're getting it, that's what..."

"We mean. Choose who you want to be, and like us..."

"Ignore those who say different."

At that, they pulled out a wand and started spreading red and gold bubbles all around the room. "This is our brother Bill's..."

"Old wand. We nicked it during the summer and he..."

"Got a new one. You won't tell, will you?" They looked at him as he watched with bright eyes at the bubble.

"Of course not," James finally said. "I guess this could really be fun." Then he looked down at his feet. "I bet that Sirius won't like me any more after what a said."

"Don't worry about that, kid. It's clear..."

"That he really loves you, just think about whats happened since he got you."

James thought for a moment and looked back up at them. "I guess you're right."

"And the best part, you already..."

"Have a pet dog any..."

"Time you like," they said and then looked at each other. "I wonder if he sniffs peoples butts?" they said and then looked at James who burst out laughing at the thought.

They pulled James off the bed and led him out and down the stairs still chuckling a bit. Half way down they stopped suddenly. Everyone was at the bottom of the stairs.

Arthur was looking annoyed while Sirius was looking hopeful. James the ran the rest of the way down the steps and leaped into Sirius' arms.

"I'm sorry, Dad," James said.

"Nothing to be sorry about, son," Sirius replied.

After a few minutes, Sirius set James down and asked, "you okay, now?"

James nodded. "Would you, er, show me?" he stuttered nervously.

Sirius nodded in understanding and transformed into a large black dog and stared at James for approval.

The twins and Ron said, "Cool." at the same time.

James reached up slowly and petted the top of Sirius head. Then he got a mischievous smile and said, "I wonder, do you sniff peoples butts?" and took off running up the stairs laughing.

Sirius the dog bound up after him and into his bedroom. He tackled him to the floor and started licking his face mercilessly, James squealing with laughter the whole time. Then he turned back into a human and began tickling him and wrestling about on the floor.

James begged him to stop betweens fits of laughter and giggles. Finally he started saying,"Stop, stop, I gotta pee."

Sirius relented and James ran quickly to the bathroom. When he came back out he was still chuckling a bit and breathing hard. Finally he said, "Wow, I have a dogfather." and started laughing again and tried to back away.

Sirius was too fast though, and grabbed him and threw him onto the bed, resuming the tickling and wrestling about with him. The eventually ending up in a hug when they were out of breath.

"Are you okay? I mean really okay?" Sirius asked him.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I love you dad," James said.

"I love you too, Pronglet," Sirius said. "Ready for some breakfast yet?"

James just then realised how hungry he was. "Yeah, really hungry lets go." He hopped up and they went down to the sitting room.

"I'm sorry for acting weird," James said to everybody.

"Na, I think you were acting normal," Ron said. "I'd act the same way."

"Shall we eat?" Sirius said, leading them to the breakfast nook.

"I told Molly we were gonna stay until tomorrow, while you were upstairs, Sirius," Arthur said as they all tucked in.

"Thanks Arthur," Sirius said then got confused. "You sent her an owl?"

"Er, no. I pushed through your reconnection to the floo network yesterday. I brought some floo power with me and so I firecalled her."

"Thanks again Arthur. I want you to know that you and your family will always be welcome here."

"Thank you, Sirius," Arthur said and then began explaining the floo network when he saw the curious look on James' face.

They discussed wizards and muggles during breakfast and then finally introduced Dobby to James, who wasn't surprised by much by this point. After breakfast, the boys went out to the enchanted back yard with four practise brooms that Dobby found in the attic. Sirius and Remus sat on the patio watching and talking.

"I want to tell you something, Arthur, from the dream, but I'm afraid you might be insulted a bit." Sirius finally said while they watched the Weasley boys show James how to fly, though he appeared to be a natural, and took to it quickly.

"Sirius, I trust you. If it concerns my boys, I want to know. Everything you've done so far shows that that what you saw was pretty accurate."

"Well, okay. The dream is almost like a series of books in its detail. It concerns your fascination with muggles, or more importantly, the fact that you don't really work towards advancement at the Ministry."

"Go on," Arthur said, looking thoughful.

"Ron hates being poor. He may not show it now, but it will be a large source of pain in the future. I may have only been a father for a few days, and I may have more money than I really need, but I can see that sometimes you have to be able to provide a few wants, not just needs."

Arthur studied Sirius for a few minutes then sighed. "You're right. I didn't think it would really come to that, sometimes a parent can be blind. Merlin knows that Molly can be overprotective at times. I was hoping that I wouldn't fall it a similar parenting trap."

"I want James to stay grounded, but I also want to spoil him a bit. He's had so little in his short life. I know it'll be hard, but I was hoping that between you and Molly, and even my neighbor, that we could do it. I really want him to have a balance of muggle and wizard, wealth and humbleness."

"I'll be glad to help any way I can. And thanks for telling me about Ron." Arthur smiled warmly and they returned their gaze to the boys.

Everyone was watching as James was coaxing more speed and maneuverability out of the practise broom than should be possible. One of the twins threw as small walnut they had found away from James, who quickly turned on his broom and zoomed after it. He caught it about a foot off the ground and zipped back up and then landed perfectly.

Everyone started clapping, but none so hard as a proud Sirius. James just blushed and shrugged his shoulders. They soon went back to flying about, tossing James' football(soccer ball) around like a quaffle, having a grand time, and acting like normal boys.

Sirius took Arthur in and gave him a tour of the place, showing him the muggle things, and explaining as much as he could remember from what he learned from Lily and the dream. When he saw a spider on the window sill he remembered something else.

"You might want to help Ron get over his fear of spiders," he said, picking up the spider and letting it crawl over his hand. "It was just a joke, I know, and I don't really want to get the twins in trouble, but in the dream, Ron faced a boggart and it became a spider." He set the spider back down and looked up at Arthur.

"I remember that, it was about four years ago. Fred and George had got hold of my wand and thought it would be funny, and it would have, if Ron had been a little older. I thought he was over it. Thanks, Sirius. They're good boys, well sort of," Arthur said and smiled.

"You don't have to tell me, from what I saw in the dream, they're gonna give me, James and Remus a run for our money when they get to school," Sirius quipped.

"Oh, now that I don't think I'm ready to know just yet. I've heard Dumbledore say some things about your time there. And the Daily Prophet article said that you and James Sr. actually managed the animagus transformation by your fifth year. That really is amazing," Arthur complimented.

"The need to have fun knows no bounds, Arthur," Sirius said, chuckling.

Sirius and Arthur then went to the third floor to check the conditions of what would be the guest rooms. Dobby had already taken care of everything, though. There were eight good sized bedrooms, each with there own bath, on the third floor. Four on either side of a large hallway that had a bay window at either end, one looking out to the back yard and one looking to the front yard. They saw Moody clipping bushes in front of his new house, getting a little disgusted at doing things the muggle way it seemed.

Then Sirius, looked back and then ducked into one of the bedrooms and saw a window facing the backyard on the far wall. He smiled. "Magical windows, Arthur," he said at Arthur's confusion.

"Oh, interesting. Your house elf seems to blend muggle and wizard very well. I think I'm jealous," Arthur said and smiled warmly.

"Dobby?" Sirius called.

"Yes sir, Sirius sir?" Dobby popped in.

"You did a wonderful job. Thank you. I want you to do something totally frivolous for yourself. Anything you want, really."

Dobby blushed. "Really? Sirius, sir?"

"Really."

Dobby thought for a moment, then looked up and snapped his fingers. The pillow case he had been wearing disappeared and was replaced by a pair of children's football shorts and two mismatched socks.

"Thank you sir, now Dobby has work to do. Dinner will be ready shortly," he said cheerfully and disappeared with another pop.

Sirius just shook his head and Arthur grinned. They went downstairs to check on the boys and tell them to wash up for dinner.

After dinner, James took the Weasley's up to his room and showed them how to play video games. They were hooked immediately, and played for the rest of the evening.

Sirius took Arthur out to his motorcycle and explained to him how to really get a muggle machine to fly. Arthur blushed a little when he told him that enchantments wouldn't work really well, and showed him his trick that he used on his last motorcycle. A dragon heartstring wrapped around a Rowan twig and placed in the fuel tank worked perfectly. It made the bike behave much like a broom. Plus, since it wasn't permanent, made it completely legal. Arthur smiled like a kid on christmas morning at that news.

The next day, after breakfast, the boys went back out to play and Sirius showed Arthur his new telephone. He explained how to use it and demonstrated by calling Rachel.

"Rachel? This is Sirius. I'm just calling to let you know that my phone is working and to give you my number. Ready? It's 555-1239."

"Got it. Hey, I'm glad you called. My sister just got here about an hour ago with her son, Dean. I was hoping maybe you could bring James over to meet them and my son."

"I would, but a friend of mine is visiting with three of his sons."

"Bring them too, the more the merrier."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, come on over."

"Alright, we'll be there in a bit, as soon as we can round up the boys."

"Alright, see you, bye."

"Bye."

"And that's how you do it, Arthur. My neighbor wants to meet you and the boys. Her sister is visiting with her son, who went to school with James," Sirius said, as Arthur was still reeling from the fascination of a telephone call.

They rounded up the boys and headed over, reminding them of no wizard talk while they're there. Once inside they made the introductions.

"I'm Sirius Black, this is my son James, and this is Arthur Weasley and his sons, Fred, George, and Ron," said Sirius.

"I'm Rachel Stewart, this is my son Alister, and this is my sister, Joanne Proffitt, and her son Dean."

It was another warm day, so the adults sat outside and watched as the boys kicked around Ali's football. The Fred, George, and Ron were really beginning to enjoy the muggle pastime. When Dean had asked James about his new name, he told him he didn't want to remember anything about living with the Dursley's. That almost threw cold water on their fun, but the twins made a joke about cursing them if they could, and it was forgotten. The muggles didn't even think that maybe they could really curse them.

Soon, Arthur said that he had to get back, and they left. The twins and Ron deciding to skip floo travel, choosing instead to ride with their father back home. Arther left Sirius and James a small amount of floo powder though, so they could easily get to Diagon Alley for some more and show James around.

James was a little sad to see them go, but perked up when Sirius reminded him that they were just a floo call away. He also told him they were going to buy a new car the next day, and explore Diagon Alley as well.

The next day was Monday, and they went to a BMW dealership. Sirius let James choose the color. He couldn't make up his mind between the forest green, or the arctic blue. He ended up choosing the green. It was fully loaded and would be delivered the next day.

Back home, Sirius showed James how to use the floo network and they spent the rest of the day in Diagon Alley. James easily chose to ignore the stares they kept getting, remembering what the Weasley twins had told him. He tended to shy away from strangers and stayed close to Sirius. By the end of the day, he paid no attention to the stares at all, and just focused on spending time with his dad.

They had a good time at Gringott's, even though the goblin's made James a little nervous. The cart ride was even better than the rollercoaster they had ridden Friday. They visited James' vault that his parents had set up, as well as the Potter family vault. James was in awe as they looked around. As legal guardian, Sirius was in charge of the vault. He found two vials near the back and pocketed them.

After that, they went to the Black family vault. Sirius confirmed that all of the Dark Arts objects had been safely stored there. Near the back he found a similar vial of his own. When James wasn't looking he put his wand to his temple and muttered _spiritus plasius_, and pulled away a golden filament, and added it to the vial. He then returned the vial to it's hiding place.

After they bought a nice black and white owl, it was getting pretty late, and James was getting tired, and hungry. They both were, really. The ice cream sundaes they had earlier at Fortescue's ice cream parlor were long since digested. They flooed back home and had a wonderful dinner, thanks to Dobby, and hit the sack.

After breakfast the next day, Sirius was thumbing through the phone book when James said that he was bored.

"Why don't you firecall Ron, while I make a phone call. We'll get you register for school this week, okay?"

"Alright," James said cheerfully and went to make his firecall. Ron was out with his mother, so he talked to the twins for a bit, then went back to Sirius to find something else to do.

"Alright, great. We'll see you at 10 then. Bye," Sirius said and hung up the phone as James walked in.

"Where're we going, dad?" James asked.

"The dentist," Sirius said and James went pale. "Now James, I know those Dursley's would have never took you to a dentist, I'm surprised they even got you glasses."

"Well, they never did, but I heard other kids talk about it. They said its the worst."

"Well you don't have to worry, I found a very good dentist, and since I've never been, I'm going to. Don't worry, it won't be bad, I wouldn't let it. Go brush your teeth, comb your hair and get dressed. You know I won't let anything bad happen to you, right?"

"Yeah," James said then pointed a finger at him and said, "You better not." Then he grinned and ran upstairs before Sirius could grab him.

They dressed identically again in black jeans, black t-shirt, and the black leather blazer, except James didn't put his hair in a ponytail this time. Riding along in their new BMW, they turned on the radio. 'Blackened' by Metallica was playing, so they turned it up as they hit the freeway.

The receptionist thought they looked cute dressing alike, and Sirius ended up with another phone number. She showed them to the first examination room where they waited.

Soon, a women entered and said, "Hello, I'm Dr. Granger, how are we doing today?"

"I don't know about you, but I was doing fine till my dad said we were going to the dentist," James said with a bashful smile.

"James is a little nervous, so I told him I would go first," Sirius said, getting into the chair.

"That's quite alright, just lean back and relax. Having any problems or pain with your teeth?"

"No, I just wanted to get a good checkup. My son has been living with his aunt and uncle, but they weren't taking care of him right. He's never been to a dentist before, and I heard you and Your husband were the best, so here we are."

"Well, I don't know about the best, but we take good care of our patients," she said as she began.

James watched as Sirius had a thorough checkup, and a good cleaning. Soon, he was done.

"See? That wasn't bad at all," Sirius said, getting out of the chair. "Now it's your turn. Don't be nervous, it feels a little weird, but it doesn't really hurt."

Soon, James was done as well, and got out of the chair, grinning. "You were right, dad. It was easy."

"I must say, his teeth were very clean, Mr. Black. He may never have been to a dentist before, but it seems that his aunt and uncle at least made him take good care of his teeth."

"No they didn't," James said with a hint of anger in his voice. "I did it on my own," he said and walked out.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Granger. His aunt and uncle were really mean to him, and he's still not over it."

"That's quite alright, Mr. Black. I'm glad he has someone who cares about him now then. I have a little girl his age and I couldn't imagine anyone being mean to her."

"Thanks doc, see you in six months, right?" Sirius said with a smile.

"Yes, the receptionist will set you up with another appointment. Take care," she said and left to see the next patient.

Sirius went out to the waiting room and James jumped into his arms. "It's alright James, the doctor understood. She has a daughter your age, and couldn't stand it if someone was mean to her."

"Dr. Granger?" James said as the doctor came in to talk to the receptionist. "I'm sorry."

"That's quite alright young man. You just take care of your dad okay? And we'll see you in six months for your checkup."

"Okay," James said and smiled.

It was only noon so they had lunch and then went to James' old school to return his books and get his transcripts. When they got there, they found the office and talked to the secretary. After looking over the custody papers, she sent them to his former teacher to finalize the transcripts and return the books to her.

They knocked on the door, and the teacher opened it and said, "May I help you?" and then noticed James. "Harry? Is that you? You look so different."

"Hi Mrs. Gadburry. Call me James, it's my middle name. I don't like the name Harry anymore," James said with a slight smile.

"Hello, Mrs. Gadburry, I'm Sirius Black, James' new guardian. We're just here to return his books and get his transcripts."

"Well, come in, then. Do you have your homework, Harry? I mean James?" she said with a smile of her own.

"Yes, it's here," James said as they walked in. He spotted Dean and waved.

Dudley saw them and screamed and ran to the corner. A dark spot appearing on the front of his trousers. The whole class giggled at the sight.

Mrs. Gadburry, grinned. "Dudley, go to the bathroom and clean yourself up," she said sternly and turned back to James. "Ha..James, why don't you go talk to Dean for a moment while I correct your homework and talk to your guardian."

"Okay, but he's my dad," James said happily as he ran over to talk to Dean.

"I've seen you've made quite an impression with him, mister?" Mrs. Gadburry said.

"Black. Sirius Black. Yeah, well, he is really special to me," Sirius replied.

"I almost didn't recognise him, wearing something other than his cousins old clothes, and without his glasses. You got him contact's then?"

"Yeah, his cousin broke the last pair, and he asked for them instead of new glasses."

"Figure's. Dudley has broken them more than once. But the contact's are good. He really has beautiful eyes. He shouldn't hide them."

"Lily, his mother, had the same eyes."

"I didn't know he had a middle name. But I think it suits him"

"It was his father's name, my best friend. I'm his godfather. His parent's died when he was only one. I've been away, otherwise, I would have intervened long ago. I made a mistake in leaving. There were things I could have done, but I didn't." Sirius said sadly.

"Well, you're here now. He seems really happy. Dean keeps talking about the rockstar that came and got him last Thursday. And then he said you live next to his aunt, and they had fun all day Sunday. Nobody plays with Dudley anymore," she said the last with a slight chuckle.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but that Dudley is a little brat, and his parents are no better."

I'm really glad someone got him away from the Dursley's. I tried to step in, but, I was told to stay out of it."

"Really? Who told you to stay out of it?"

"The headmaster got word from some governmental department." Sirius just looked at her, pondering this new information. "I knew he would be okay on Thursday, though."

"Really? How so?" Sirius asked, curiosity peaked.

"Oh, it was a picture he drew for art. He said he dreamed that an uncle was coming to rescue him, and showed me the picture. It was clearly a picture of you. In fact, seeing you is how I recognised Harry, I mean James. The change in him is tremendous, and I don't just mean his appearance. In fact I've only seen him smile twice. Once when he showed me that picture, and today, when you knocked on my door."

"I guess I'm doing alright then. I'm knew to this being a dad thing. But I think James is worth it."

Just then James and Dean came walking over. "Er, dad, could Dean maybe sleepover some time?"

"Sure, we'll work it out with his mom. I just want to wait until you get settled at your new school, okay?"

"Yes!" they said in unison.

"I'm glad to see you're doing better, Ha..er, James. Have fun with your new dad, alright?" she said hand the final grades to Sirius.

"We will." James replied with a grin.

"Just take those to the office and they'll update the transcripts for you," Mrs. Gadburry replied and then went to find Dudley who still hadn't returned to class.

"See you later Dean, come on James, let's go," Sirius said.

"Bye Dean, I'll call you," James said and they left.

Once they had the transcripts, they said goodbye to James' old life forever.

The next morning, Sirius, James, Rachel, and Ali all walked to school together. Rachel was going to help Sirius register James for school.

As they approached the school, James said, "Dad, isn't that Mr. Weasley's car?" and pointed to a light blue Ford Anglia.

"I believe you're right, James. I wonder what they're doing here," Sirius said as they walked in and headed for the office while Ali headed to his classroom.

Inside they saw three familiar redheads sitting and sulking while a forth was talking animatedly to the receptionist and someone who appeared to be the headmaster.

"Thanks a lot, Mr. Black," Ron said in a huff when he saw them. "Mum thinks going to this m...this school would be good for us."

"Sorry guys, it'll be okay, though. James will be here to," Sirius replied a little unsure of what was going on.

"Hello Arthur," Sirius said. "Having trouble?"

"Er yes, they seemed to be reluctant to take in students who have been, er, home schooled and plus they have a problem because I don't have a fellytone."

Sirius looked at him warily, then said, "If I may, headmaster, I'll vouch for him and you may use my telephone number."

"And you are?" said the headmaster.

"Black, Sirius Black. I'm here to register my son James. I have his transcripts from his last school. We just moved to the neighborhood, and this is my neighbor, Rachel Stewart. Her son is already enrolled here."

"Ah, yes, Mrs. Stewart, you will vouch for these Gentlemen?"

"Absolutely," she said sternly with a face that would make Snape cower.

"Very well, since these children have no formal education they will be given placement tests to determine which class they should be in. As for Mr. Black, you paper work is in order, Your son will be attending Mr. Albert Lewis' class as soon as the secretary enters his information into our records," the headmaster said and strode back to his office.

Soon a tall woman approached them. She reminded Sirius and Arther of Minerva McGonagall, the way she carried herself and the way she spoke. "I am Miss Magdeline Smith and I am the assistant Headmistress at this school. If the three Weasley children will follow me, I will administer the placement tests." She quickly strode out the door and Ron, Fred, and George quickly followed.

"Don't mind her," said the secretary, "She's stern, but fair, and the Head, he's all bark but no bite. Anyway, here you go, James," she said handing him an admissions card. "Mr. Lewis' class is in room 42, I can show you the way if you like."

"That's alright, I'll take him," Sirius said, "Thank you very much. Arthur, I'll wait with you for the boys to get done with there tests. Rachel, thanks, I really appreciate it."

"Not at all, Sirius," she said, and left.

Sirius walked James down the hall and they found room 42 easily.

"Well, I guess I'll see you when you get home," Sirius said sadly.

"Don't worry, dad, be brave. I'll be home soon enough. Practise my video games so that I won't beat you as badly as I did."

"I know, but I just got you from the Dursley's, and I like having you around," Sirius said and hugged him fiercely.

James hugged him back for a moment, but that moment kept getting longer and longer. "Daaaaaad," he whined just there came a sound of a clearing throat behind them.

"Sorry," Sirius said standing up and turning around.

Mr. Lewis was a tall, older man of about 50, with a slight belly, and shoulder length grey hair tied back in a ponytail. When he smiled, it was like looking at the kindness of gentle grandpa. He took the card from James and said, "No problem Mr. Black. I'd rather see a parent who cares that much than one who just drops off and leaves or worse. He'll be fine. Come on, James, let's introduce you to the class."

James waived bye and Sirius suddenly felt alone. He slowly walked back to the office to find Arthur there waiting and looking around at all of the fascinating muggle things.

"Arthur," Sirius said a little coldly.

"Sirius. Aren't these photographs fascinating? With the way the just sit there?"

"We need to talk," Sirius said and led him out into the hall.

"What is it, Sirius?" he said with a look of genuine puzzlement.

"Just what the hell are you and Dumblefuck playing at?" he whispered angrily.

Arthur took a step back, eyes wide. "Sirius, I have no idea..." he trailed off and got a look of concentration, and then realisation on his face. "Sirius, I swear, I had no idea. I just kind of suggested it might be a good idea Sunday night when I got home. But Molly didn't even want to discuss it at all, she was all for it from the beginning. She was never all for any of my ideas that concern muggle anything. Do you think Albus spoke with her?"

"I don't doubt it. From what I know of Molly, it would be easy to play to her overprotective instincts," Sirius said, calming down.

"How can it hurt, though really? What could Albus hope to accomplish?"

"I don't know. Anything to turn James into a weapon against Voldemort." Arthur jumped at the name. "Arthur, I want James to make his own friends, be his own person, choose who he wants to be."

"Don't worry, Sirius. You can use that dream to make sure. And I won't let Molly bully me into anything like a spy for Albus. I love my children to much for that. I wouldn't want to see them get used that way. Molly won't either, once I explain it to her. Trust me Sirius, please?"

Wow, Sirius thought to himself, this was nothing like the Arthur in his dream. He was at first, but it's already changed dramatically. Maybe he could be successful at protecting James after all. "Okay," he said finally and sat down to wait for the boys tests to be over.

A little while later Ms. Smith and the boys returned. "They have good intelligence, Mr. Weasley, you've done well with their home schooling. Though they lack some basic History, and their mathematics and science good be improved, I think they will do fine in an age appropriate class. Ronald may go to Mr. Lewis' class, and the twin mischief makers would do well in Mr. Lawson's class."

She handed the test's to the secretary to put in their file, and returned with three admissions cards. "Mr. Lawson's class is in room 39, and you remember Mr. Lewis' class is in 42," she said and returned to her office.

After seeing the pouting boys to class, Arthur and Sirius left in the Ford and went to Sirius house around the corner for some tea.

"I'm really sorry, Sirius, really I am. I should have seen it coming when she suggested that we use Moody's new house as the muggle address. I was blinded be my fascination with muggles, again."

"It's okay, Arthur, what's done is done. The boys can floo here and then walk to school if you like. I imagine Molly said that I wouldn't have a problem with that. I know you couldn't drive them all that way everyday."

"Yes, she did. I'm sorry," Arthur said, hanging his head.

"It's okay, Arthur, really it is. Could you let yourself out? I think I'm going for a ride on my motorcycle, to clear my head. I'll see you later," Sirius said and left.

Moments later Arthur heard the roar of a Harley take off from the garage and fade away. He got into the little Ford and left immediately. On the drive, he kept thinking of different things he planned on saying to his wife about getting them mixed up in Albus' dangerous politicking.

Riding down the highway, not knowing where he was really going, Sirius simply let his mind wander. No traffic to speak of, he had the radio on the bike blaring. Suddenly he had another flash of the future beyond that of his dream and nearly crashed the bike. He pulled over to the side and stopped, waiting for his mind to make out what he saw. It was a picture of James as a teenager in Dumbledore's office. He heard a prophecy involving James and Voldemort, before the image of James began tearing up the office in a pain filled rage. Sirius finally knew what this was all about, and he wasn't going to let James hurt like that. Ever. He knew what he had to do. 'Back In Black' by AC/DC began playing as he whipped the bike around, dirt and gravel flying as he headed back home.


	3. Hidden In Plain Sight

_Thanks for the reviews. I hope you enjoy._

"**Unveiling The Future"**

**Chapter 3, "Hidden In Plain Sight"**

Rachel watched as Sirius pulled into the driveway, a look of anger and fierce determination on his face. "Sirius, is everything alright?" she called out, startling him.

He saw pure concern on her face and started toward her before changing his mind. "I..I'm sorry Rachel. I can't talk right now," he snapped, and ran quickly into the house.

Rachel just stood there for a moment, and then headed in after him. When she got to the door she stopped and turned around. It wasn't her concern. But it was, she thought to herself, and turned back around and went in. She felt a sudden prickle on the back of her neck, and it made her stop where she was. Very quickly, though, it turned into a warm sensation up and down her spine, seemingly pushing her toward the open door at the end of the hall.

She saw that it was a good sized library. She found Sirius pulling books off shelves, apparently looking for something. "Sirius?" she said, and he jumped and looked at her.

"Rachel? How did you get in here?" Sirius said, shocked that the wards would let an uninvited muggle in.

"The door was unlocked. Are you alright? What's wrong?" she said, her voiced filled with innocent concern.

"I can't tell you, you wouldn't understand," Sirius said, dropping his gaze to the books all over the floor.

Both of their eyes caught the book at Sirius' feet. Wizard's of Great Britain lay there, open to a page that said, 'The noble family of Black is one of the oldest pureblood wizarding families...' Sirius kicked the book out of the way and looked up at her. She gave him a questioning look.

"Listen, I'm sorry, about snapping at you. There are just some things that you won't understand," Sirius said apologetically.

"Is it something to do with your friend starting his kids at school? You can trust me Sirius. Please, talk to me," she responded with nothing but sympathy in her voice.

Sirius looked into her eyes. He saw trust there. The wards trusted her, why couldn't he? "I...I don't know who to trust anymore. There are things...things happening, people manipulating, trying to interfere with me and my son. I'm just worried for him, that's all."

She nodded. "The kids will be home from school soon. If you need to talk, I'm here," she said. Then she kissed him on the cheek and left.

Sirius looked down at the book in his hands. It was the book of wards that his grandfather Phineas used, enchanted to be read only by an heir of the Black family. It had been hidden behind several other books in the library.

Sirius was in the sitting room reading the book of wards when the boys got home. "So, how was your first day?" Sirius asked. They all jumped in clamoring to be heard. He caught the words, 'brilliant', 'excellent', and 'awesome', among the babble.

He just sat back with a grin as they talked and talked. "You like muggle school, then?" They just rolled there eyes at him. "How did Mr. Lewis compare to Mrs. Gadburry?"

"About the same," James said, "but the school work is a little harder. Sometimes I got board at the other school. I like him, though, he's nice."

"Did your father leave you any instructions about if you're to floo home immediately after school?"

"He said we could stay for a bit, just be home by 6," Ron said.

"Why didn't your little sister, Ginny, goto school too?" Sirius asked a little puzzled.

"Mum wanted to keep her home, only girl, you know," Ron replied.

"And she wanted to see how it went with us," Fred or George added.

"Alright then, let's go have a snack, as I'm feeling a bit hungry myself," Sirius said, leading the way to the kitchen.

After Dobby whipped up a quick snack, they played 2 on 2 quidditch until time to go home. After dinner, Sirius had a great time helping James with his homework, he even learned a few things himself.

After tucking him in and kissing him on the forehead, Sirius just stood, and watched James for a bit. Finally, James giggled and said, "What?"

"Er," Sirius blushed a little. "I found a muggle book in the library today, no idea how it got there, but I was wondering if maybe you'd like me to read it to you."

James eyes started misting up. "No one's ever read to me before. Would you really like to read to me?"

Sirius nodded with a wide grinned and climbed in bed next to James. He leaned back against the headboard while James snuggled down into the covers. He then pulled out a copy of 'Huck Finn', and only managed to read a few chapters before James was fast asleep, a contented smile on his face.

He got up and kissed James on the forehead again before retreating to his own room to get ready for bed. As he was climbing into his own bed, he saw the two viles from the Potter vault sitting on the night stand. He picked them up and stared at the golden liquid swirling around inside. One was labeled Lily Potter, and the other was labeled James Potter.

Sirius held them for a while and finally sighed and said, "I'm sorry guys, I can't. Not yet." He then conjured a velvet lined box and placed them safely in it. He got up a hid the box in the back of his wardrobe before going to sleep, thinking only of what he had planned to do the next day.

The next day Sirius and James were chatting over breakfast when the Weasley's came walking in, tracking soot across the floor. Dobby immediately popped in and vanished the soot from their clothes and feet.

"Next time young sirs, you will wait for me," he said, and began vanishing the foot prints all the way back to the fireplace.

"He sounds just...like our mother," the twins said.

"Care for some breakfast? There's still some time before school," Sirius said.

"We already ate, but i could fancy another sausage or two," Ron said and plopped down next to James.

"A regular eating machine...that one," the twins chuckled, who then joined them for another bite themselves.

Rachel and Sirius stood on the pavement waving as they watched the boys walk to school. Moody had been watching, and once they were out of sight, he headed over. He halted suddenly, as a dark blue van sped up the street and around the corner, opposite the way the boys had gone.

"Blasted muggles," Moody said gruffly, and then cast a wary glance at Rachel with his normal eye, his large magical one hidden by his hat.

"Uh, Rachel, Moody. Moody, Rachel," Sirius said.

Moody simply nodded and Rachel gave him a puzzled look. "Please to meet you, Moody. Sirius, I'll see you later," she said and went back to her house.

"So what's up, Moody?" Sirius said.

"The boy seems to be happy, but it's odd the Weasley's going to school with him."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Seems Dumbledore asked Molly to do this for some reason. Supported Arthur's suggestion right off the bat," Sirius said, growling a bit when he said Dumbledore.

"Yeah, I figured as much," Moody replied. "When I told him that you agreed with him about me moving here, but that he should have asked first, and that I agreed with you, he brushed me off, saying that you and the boy needed protection, especially after that piece in the Daily Prophet."

"Yeah, I don't deny that part, but after that bloody dream, I should be the one to decide what type of protection," Sirius said, stifling his anger.

"That reminds me, that blue van has been parked here for the last two days. Nobody ever gets in or out."

"Deatheaters?"

"I don't know of any deatheater that gives any weight to any muggle contraption. But like I always say..."

"Yeah, constant vigilance, I know. I think maybe you're just being overprotective, but, I do appreciate it. I honestly don't think I could handle losing James in anyway, right now."

"So, what's with this Rachel? Fancy her a bit, do ya?"

Sirius blushed a little. "I don't know, maybe. The weird thing is, the wards let her in yesterday. An uninvited muggle in a Black family house. I guess I can trust her if the house does. I mean, after all, we all know how Phineas and the rest of my family felt about muggles."

"I'll keep my eye on her and her kid then. Wouldn't do for any deatheaters to try and use them as bait."

"Thanks, Moody. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to have a talk with Albus, assuming the school wards will let me floo into his office. Apparating into Hogsmeade would give him too much advance notice."

"You might want to say sherbet lemon before you say Dumbledore's office," Moody said with a wink that truly made him look a bit evil.

Back in the house, Sirius steadied his nerve and threw a pinch of floo powder into the fireplace. At once the fire burned a bright green. He stepped in and said, "sherbet lemon, Dumbledore's office."

The spinning came to an end, and after apparently checking the password, or more accurately the password and his character, the wards allowed the fireplace to spit him out into the office.

He glanced around, Dumbledore wasn't back from breakfast yet, good. He walked around a bit, looking at the odd, silver devices whirring and humming around the office. He gave a bow to Fawkes, the phoenix, who politely bowed it's head in recognition.

Sirius strolled around Dumbledore's desk and eyed the very comfortable looking chair. Dare I? He thought. Surely there would be wards or enchantments on the chair. So? He thought and smiled to himself. He wasn't a Marauder for nothing, and quickly sat down in the chair. Nothing happened. It was indeed a very comfortable. If there were any wards or enchantments, they must like him. He leaned back a bit, and propped his feet up on the desk and relaxed.

About ten minutes later Dumbledore strode into his office and stopped dead. Seeing Sirius, sitting there in his chair took him completely by surprise, and it showed on his face for the longest moment before he could change his expression back to a calm, almost Slytherin one.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, Sirius?" he said, ignoring the chair for the moment.

"Well, I just thought I would ask that you refrain from assuming to give me help and wait until I actually ask for it," Sirius replied, smiling.

"I just thought that since you were new to parenting that you wouldn't recognise when you needed the help," Dumbledore said coolly.

"Yeah right. I thought you agreed to not put safety above his childhood. And in this case, the freedom to make his own friends," Sirius said, his tone slightly firmer and the smile slightly smaller.

"Ah, but he had already made friends with the Weasley's. I was just, helping him be more at ease with the wizarding world," Dumbledore countered, his calm smile never wavering.

"Convenient," Sirius retorted, the smile all but gone now. "Well, I'll handle the updates on the ward's myself, thank you. Especially now that I know the whole of the prophecy."

Dumbledore's cool smile vanished at that. He new Sirius would have mentioned it if he had seen it in the dream. Sirius appeared to be having continuing flashes about the future. He would have to tread lightly now, or else lose their trust for ever.

"The dream makes more sense now, don't you know? The prophecy you heard that day says that James will have to kill or be killed by Voldemort. That he was marked as an equal, so you thought that you could manipulate him every year when he got to Hogwart's. He is his father's son, so you would give him just enough clues to wet his curiosity and then let him fight the weakened version of Voldemort several times over, nearly dying each time, just so you could have your weapon. He might eventually equal Voldemort's power, but he was just a boy, not an adult. That, you forced upon him. All of that hell you would put him through, made it impossible for him to learn Occlumency, something he needed to block the connection that scar gives him to Voldemort. He finally had me, the closest thing to a parent that he had ever had. But because he couldn't learn Occlumency, Voldemort was able to trick him into thinking I was in trouble. Eventually leading everyone to that blasted veil. James almost stepped through it, then where would your weapon be? Who else might have fallen into it? The kids that stuck by James' side? Members of your blasted order? But the worse was the end of the dream, when I fell through it, thereby ripping away from him yet another parental figure. Tell me, when will you stop stop this shite?" Sirius' rant had gotten louder and angrier the more he went on, till finally he was out of breath. He had gotten up during it and was now standing face to face with Dumbledore.

Dumbledore just stared at him, showing no emotion. Finally he said, "I'm sorry, but that was the future. I won't do that. I couldn't do that, now that I can see it in perspective."

"Maybe not, but it appears to be your nature, so I don't think I can trust you really. Hang on," Sirius said, looking Dumbledore in the eye, who shied away slightly. "One thing has been bothering me since I woke up, and now I know what it is. There were no aurors there when I woke up, only you and Fudge. Why was that, Albus? Fudge had to go get them for Pettigrew, and it took him a bit of time to do that. You knew I wasn't really dangerous, didn't you? You knew I was innocent, didn't you? Or at least strongly suspected it. You could have done something when Crouch threw me in Azkaban without a trial. You wanted James to grow up in that hell, didn't you?" Sirius began pacing back and forth, never taking his eyes off Dumbledore.

Dumbledore just held steady, holding the gaze as best as he could, but the guilt that he was forcing down was slowly winning.

"You didn't care as much about that blood protection as much as you wanted to make your bloody weapon. Wait," Sirius stopped pacing. "Why WAS it only you and Fudge?" Sirius thought for only half a second. "I don't fucking believe it, you were gonna just get the dream out of me and then toss me back into Azkaban, weren't you? Leaving James again without love in his life."

Dumbledore just bowed his head in guilt. He couldn't deny any of it. He looked up to try and apologize, but he didn't have time.

"You son of a bitch," Sirius said and cold cocked Dumbledore right in the jaw with everything he had in him.

Dumbledore flew a good six feet before hitting the floor. Sirius just stood there for a moment, and then got a goofy smile on his face, before turning and leaving, not noticing that Minerva McGonagall had been standing outside the office, listening the whole time.

She rushed in and saw Dumbledore lying on the ground, holding his jaw, which was quickly turning black and blue. She just pursed her lips and put her hands on hips, staring for several minutes.

Dumbledore tried to say something, but grimaced in pain. He then pulled out his wand and wrote the words 'jaw broken' in the air.

Although she tried, she failed miserably at holding in a few giggles. "As the muggle saying goes, you made your bed, now you have to lie in it," she said with a scolding tone. "I'll inform Poppy of where you are," she added and then exited the office, leaving Dumbledore on the floor.

Sirius made his way out of the castle and onto the grounds. "Merlindamnit, that felt good," he cried the moment the door closed behind him. Outside the gates he was about to apparate home, but decided instead to head to Diagon Alley to get a few things for his bike, it was time for that hog to fly, among other things. He first had a drink at the Leaky Cauldron, though. Much of his anger at Dumbledore was gone finally, and he wanted to celebrate a bit.

He had to goto Knockturn Alley to find a dragon heartstring, as the place in Diagon Alley didn't carry them anymore. He also wanted to find a way to make the bike invisible to muggles. He found out from a more reputable shopkeeper that all he needed to do was add a thestral hair to the dragon heartstring. That would hide sound as well, because thestrals are soundless, not just invisible to muggles. It would have been hard to do if he hadn't seen anybody die, but thanks to the previous war with Voldemort, his memory was painfully replete with that, not to mention seeing Cedric Diggory die in the dream, although he didn't know if that would count for seeing thestrals.

He had Dobby bring the the bike to him in Knockturn Alley, where he promptly added the Rowan twig wrapped with the braided thestral hair and dragon heartstring to the fuel tank. Then he kicked the starter and the engine roared to life. He gunned it a few times, and then pulled back a bit, and it rose a few feet into the air.

He noticed that a few wizards appeared to get confused at what others were looking at the moment he rose into the air. "Brilliant," he yelled and soared into the air.

He flew around for hours, listening to the radio, and losing himself and finding himself all at the same time. When he finally glanced at his watch he found that he needed to head home, because the boys would be home soon.

As he approached Grimmauld Place he saw a figure getting out of a taxi in front of his house. He zoomed down and checked to make sure that there weren't any muggles watching before he landed, and pulled into the driveway. He shut it down, got off and turned around to face his guest.

They just stared at each other for the longest time before embracing each other in a fierce hug.

"I was afraid I'd never see you again when you didn't answer my letter, Remus," Sirius said, tears falling freely.

"I couldn't possibly stay away, when I found out that Wormtail was the one, Sirius. I'm so sorry for even entertaining the idea that you could betray James and Lily."

"That's okay, bud, that's all in the past now," Sirius said standing back.

"Is Harry here?" Remus asked.

Sirius wiped his eyes and said, "No, he's at school, muggle school, he should be home any minute. He likes to be called James, though. He says the name Harry reminds him too much of his bad other family." Then he noticed Rachel standing a ways away. "Rachel, I want you too meet my best friend, Remus Lupin, he went to school with me and Lily."

"Please to meet you, Remus. I was just waiting for the kids to get home, they're running a little late," she said, a little concerned.

Remus gave Sirius a puzzled look and Sirius replied, "Her son goes to school with James. Three of Arthur Weasley's boys go there too. They, er, come here before going home."

"Here they come now," Rachel said and they looked toward the end of the street to see three redheads and a small blond running toward them.

"Where's James?" Sirius said, fear gripping him with a ferocity he had never felt before.

The boys were all crying as the ran up to them. George had a black eye and was holding his wrist.

"They took him," Fred said sobbing, "me and George tried to stop them but they hit George. Men in a blue van. They said to give you this." and he held out a white envelope.

Sirius grabbed it and tore it open and read it quickly. He sank down to his knees, sobbing. Remus tried to comfort him, but he pushed him away suddenly. "Dobby? Dobby, get out here."

Dobby appeared with a pop. "Yes sir, Sirius, sir. What can I do for you?"

"Some muggles took James, please, tell me, can you find him?"

The little house elf got a look of fear and then a look of concentration. After a minute he shook as head. "I'm sorry master, he is behind a ward, I don't know where it is."

"How can muggles use wards? Can you at least tell me which direction he is in?" Sirius said grabbing the house elf in desperation.

Dobby thought for a moment, then said, "Yes, master. The closer we is the better I can tell too."

"Get on the bike, Dobby," he said, his anger rising now, as Moody came running as fast as his leg could carry him. "Remus, stay here with the kids and tell Moody what happened."

Sirius then jumped on the bike and it roared to life. He soared into the air with Metallica's 'Seek and Destroy' blaring from the radio.

**Insert commercial here.**

"What happened?" Moody said.

"James was taken," Rachel said. "He said Muggles in a blue van. Are they some kind of gang? I've never heard of them before. And just what the hell was that little creature he was talking to? It nearly gave me a heart attack when it appeared out of no where."

"Let's get the kids inside the house," Remus said, trying to calm everyone down.

"Just what the hell is going on?" Rachel said, staring at Moody and Remus. "First, I see Sirius appear out of nowhere in the middle of the street on his bike from my window, and then someone kidnaps James. Then a little creature appears that apparently can almost sense where he might be, and now Sirius disappears on his bike before my very eyes."

Moody just grabbed the ransom note and scanned it quickly before dropping it back to the floor. "The kids will tell you everything. Let's go, Lupin. I think I can track the bike," he said, grabbing Remus' arm and pulling him out the door.

She looked fiercely after them, angry that they didn't tell her anything, then realised that this would keep the kids busy and not worrying about their friend. She whipped around and stared at the three redheads, who were still crying a bit. "Alright, spill it," she said as she got some ice for George's wrist.

Flying low, Dobby kept directing Sirius which way to go. Soon, they found themselves at what appeared to be an abandoned cathedral.

"Master James is in there, sir, I'm positive," Dobby said.

"Can you pop in there and get him?" Sirius asked.

Dobby concentrated really hard and finally shook his head. "The old wards won't let me, I'm sorry sir," he said, tears in his eyes and a strain in his voice.

"Damn it," Sirius whispered. Then he cast a disillusionment charm on himself before landing the bike in some shadows a half a block away. "Stay with me, Dobby, but stay invisible."

He slowly crept near the old cathedral and peered carefully in a window. Nothing but an empty cathedral. Then he saw a basement window with light coming from it. He peered in. He saw James in a corner tied up with duct tape, including tape over his mouth. He was sobbing silently, Sirius saw. He saw two men sitting on overturned crates playing cards.

He went further around the building and found a broken out window that overlooked the landing of the basement stairwell. This is how they got in. He tried to climb through the window but was pushed back by the wards. "What the hell?" he said under his breath.

"Sir told me to stay with him, but the wards won't let me in at all," came the disembodied voice of the house elf.

"Damn it," Sirius said again. "Alright, don't stay with me. See if you can think of a way to help that won't get James or me hurt or killed." Then Sirius slowly climbed through the windows and went down the steps. He pulled out his wand and made his way around the corner in the direction of James.

"Blast, what's that spell?" Sirius murmured to himself when he was close enough to see James. He couldn't think of the spell that would remove the duct tape with hurting him. He removed the disillusionment charm so he wouldn't scare James, and then kept to the shadows and moved closer.

James saw him, and tried to cry out. Sirius held a finger to his lips, and James nodded. He moved closer and started quietly pulling off the tape, keeping one eye on the two men. Finally he removed the tape from James' mouth, but he didn't get up or say anything, he just looked down. When Sirius saw that he had wet himself, he just picked him up and held him close.

Suddenly there was a bang, and Sirius felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder and he almost dropped James, who screamed.

"He's trying to take the kid," said a third man that Sirius hadn't seen.

He spun in the direction of the noise and fought through the pain. Raising his wand he muttered _stupefy_. The man hit the ground like a sack of bricks. There was another bang, but Sirius had thrown himself and James to the floor the moment he had cast the spell. The bullet just grazed Sirius' other shoulder as he went down. He quickly put the disillusionment charm on himself and James and tried to crawl away. Then he noticed blood on his hands and yelled out in panic.. The first bullet had passed completely through his and James shoulders and James was going into shock. He put pressure on James' shoulder, to try and at least slow down the bleeding. He lost his concentration and couldn't maintain the charm, so it failed.

"There you are," said one of the men, pointing a gun at them. "Turn over, slowly."

Sirius started to do as he was told, and then muttered, _accio gun_s, and then rolled out of the way as three guns came toward him. He brought his feet up and slammed them into the knees of the stunned man standing over him, wondering where his gun just went. He went down as quickly as the first. By the time Sirius had gotten to his feet, the last man had recovered his shock and grabbed a piece of lumber. Sirius tried to duck but wasn't quick enough, and a corner of the board caught him on the head. He went down, but still managed to keep pressure on James shoulder. The last thing he heard as he blacked out, was _stupefy_.

**Insert commercial here.**

Sirius felt the fog slowly drift away from his mind as he woke up. He gave himself a quick check without opening his eyes. His head didn't hurt, nor did his shoulders. He could feel the wards, and new he was in his own bedroom. He also could feel a small body next to him. He opened his eyes and glanced over. James was fast asleep, no trace of the wound was visible. But the internal damage was clearly visible, as he was in a fetal position, sucking his thumb.

He got up quickly but gently, so he wouldn't wake James up. He threw on his clothes and headed for the door, only to be stopped as Poppy, Remus, and Moody came in, pushing him back and holding him.

"I'm fine," Sirius said looking at Poppy, "thanks."

"You maybe fine, but James is not," she said.

Sirius quickly spun around and went back to James. He knelt by the bed and gently brush the hair back from James face.

"He's still in shock," she said. "The wound is as healed as yours is, Sirius. But the mental pain will take some time."

He looked up at Remus and Moody.

"They're in jail, those muggle police showed up right after we did," Moody said.

"They were lowlife crooks, not very bright. The police new right where to go. A couple other kids saw what happen and ran back to the school." Remus added glumly.

"We couldn't obliviate the lot of them, so we had to let them police take 'em. Don't worry, though. Dobby's keepin' an eye on them," Moody said without emotion.

Sirius stood up and looked around the three of them, cold anger seeping deep within his eyes. Then he took a deep breath and glanced down at the floor.

"The Ministry doesn't know," Remus said quietly. "The wards on that old cathedral blocked the tracking of the spells we used."

"Thanks for coming after me," Sirius finally said. "I didn't think that muggles would be a challenge. That's a mistake I won't make again."

"Just be thankful Moody could track that bike of yours," Remus said with a faint smile.

"Still, it was a stupid mistake. I know I would die for James, and I almost did. He would have been alone again if had. That's not something I'm gonna let happen. I won't let myself die for him and leave him like that," Sirius said sternly. "However, I am willing to kill for him. Where are they being held?"

"Don't do it daddy," came a weak voice behind them.

Sirius ran back to the bed and gently picked James up and held him. "But they hurt you," he said, a few tears falling.

"Let the police keep them in jail. I don't want you to go to jail too. Would my other mommy and daddy want you to kill anyone?"

Sirius just shook his head and continued hugging James. Shortly he realised James was asleep again. He carefully lay him back down and kissed his forehead, before facing his friends again. "Fine, I wanted to live with in some of the limits of muggle society, so I'll let the police have them. We gotta keep the reporters away, though, to protect James."

"Dobby will do that, sir," said Dobby from the corner of the room.

"You can do that, Dobby?"

"Dobby can do almost anything master tells him, especially with muggles," the elf said with a mischievous grin.

Sirius gave Dobby a weak smile and said, "Do it then." Dobby then disappeared with a pop. Sirius went over to a chair and fell into it.

"James seems to be doing better than I thought he would after such an ordeal," Poppy finally said.

"He's his parent's son," Sirius said simply.

"Don't leave yourself out of that equation, Mr. Black," Poppy said, resuming her more formal tone. "YOU are his daddy now, and it's your love that got him this far, and it's your love that will get him the rest of the way."

"Yeah, if Dumbledore stops his manipulating," Sirius said, suddenly remembering his last conversation.

"Oh I think he's learned his lesson," Poppy said, stifling a snicker. Sirius gave her a quizzical look. "Professor McGonagall came to my office after you left. You were kinda loud, and she heard the whole thing from outside the door. It seems you actually broke his jaw when you hit him. Funny thing though, no matter what I tried, I couldn't heal it magically."

"So what does that mean? Will he be okay?" Sirius said, blushing.

"Yes he will, Mr. Black, but... I had to do it the muggle way, and wire his jaw shut for the next several weeks. He won't be able to talk, and definitely not eat those muggle sweets he's so fond of."

Sirius quickly cast a sound bubble around James, and burst out laughing. Shortly, Remus and Moody couldn't hold it in anymore and started laughing too.

"That's enough," Poppy said, but she too was chuckling.

Sirius suddenly sat up. "What day is it? How long have I been out?"

"Relax, Sirius," Remus said, "It's Friday afternoon, you've only been out a night and half a day."

"Wait, if the police arrived after you did?" Sirius said, finally getting his head together.

"We obliviated them to think that you weren't hurt," Moody said.

"And then filled out all of the statements they wanted," Remus added.

"Oh, Merlin, what about Rachel?" Sirius said suddenly.

"She's fine too," Poppy said. "The children told her as much as they could, Moody said that she could be trusted. I gave her a sleeping draught. She handled most of it, but couldn't seem to relax."

"Her son Ali, took it in stride, though," Remus added. "He knows to keep it a secret. Fred and George were able to convince him of that easily enough. Those two really have a gift."

"Arthur and Molly are downstairs waiting to talk to you," Poppy said. "As is Professor McGonagall."

"Uh oh," Sirius said. "Good or bad?"

"Both, I imagine," Poppy replied.

Indeed it was both. McGonagall scolded him for taking such a chance, but mostly she was glad that he was okay and that James had been rescued. She even gave him a hug.

Molly was very sorry for letting Dumbledore manipulate her like that. In the end, though, it was decided that the boys would keep going to muggle school.

Arthur then told him that what happened would never reach the Ministry's ears because he had taken Sirius' advice and approached Fudge about a promotion. After much discussion, Arthur had been put in charge of the entire muggle division, with half a dozen department heads reporting directly to him. He admitted shyly that things changed in his favor when he had dropped Sirius' name in the conversation. Now things were truly looking up for the Weasley family.

It had been two weeks since that night. It turned out that Rita Skeeter had sold a version of her article to the muggle newspaper, and the kidnappers had seen it. Just two bit crooks who really didn't know what they were doing, they thought they could take advantage of Sirius' wealth. They had no connection to any deatheaters, and they had stumbled on the abandoned cathedral by accident.

The story never made it to the muggle newspaper, nor the wizard one either. Dobby was very effective at that. Sirius, Remus, James, and Moody never had to testify, because the kidnappers never made it to trial. They were killed in their cells within a week. Somehow it got out that they had shot a seven year old boy. Honor among thieves, it would seem.

Rachel had accepted everything finally. In fact, she and Sirius spent nearly every other day together, as she didn't work. She lived on alimony and child support from a ex who was financially secure. He had agreed to pay if he didn't have to ever see them. What an arsehole. At least they were taken care of.

James had slept with Sirius every night for the first week before agreeing to sleep in his own bed. A few times a week though, Sirius would wake to find James snuggled up against him. Such was the case on this particular Monday, three weeks after it had happened.

"Hey, Pronglet, time to get ready for school," Sirius said, stretching.

"Aw, dad," James said and pulled the covers over his head.

"Woof, bark, woof," Sirius the dog said as he stuck his muzzle under the covers, tickling James.

"I'm up, I'm up," James said, laughing as he went to get ready.

Works every time, Sirius thought as he changed back into a human and got dressed himself.

After getting James and the Weasley's off to school, the house seemed so empty. Remus had stayed the first week, until James was feeling better, but then he had to get back to his own life.

With Dobby's help, Sirius had updated the wards on the house, so they were completely protected. A variation on the anti-muggle wards commonly used to hide wizard places, this one hid the house from all but certain wizards. It was blood magic, which was considered dark, but effective none the less.

Now he stood watching the boys walk to school. Moody came over shortly.

"Any luck finding Skeeter?" Sirius asked.

"Not yet. Probably knows what you'll do to her so she's staying a beetle," Moody replied.

"Well, I see you later than," Sirius said, and hopped on his bike. He cast a warming charm to take the bite out of the November air, and took off.

He looked up at the sign on the small out of the way building. It was barely readable from the street. Wing Chun Dojo it said. It had taken him a while to find a place such as this, but it was exactly what he needed.

The place was empty except for one small Chinese man, apparently the owner, master, or whatever.

"I want to learn martial arts," Sirius said to the man, who just stared back at him, but said nothing. "Er, people said you're the best, and that's what I need."

The man kept staring at Sirius, emotionless. "Why?" he finally said.

"So I can protect my son."

"Then why not bring him here?"

"He's only seven years old."

"What would a seven year old need such protection from?"

Sirius just stared at the man. "Both light and dark wizards and some muggles," he said, tired of this.

The man raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I thought it was forbidden to tell such things to muggles."

"It is, but my son's life is more important to me. How did you know?"

"We know much that the wizards think that they keep secret."

"Then you will help me?"

"Perhaps, why would a small boy need such protection? The boy-who-lived perhaps?"

Sirius raised his wand to erase the old man's memory, and suddenly found himself face down on the floor without his wand.

"No need to wipe my memory. Anyone seeking that bit of information will fail, as I have no desire to see Voldemort return to any amount of power. You will train at home with what I show you today. You will also begin the boys training of what I show you."

"No," Sirius demanded. "I want James to have a normal childhood, not training to be a weapon."

"Not as a weapon, of course. But a child's life is to be spent sometime in learning. Teach him the meditation, it will strengthen his mind to disallow unwanted outside influence. A small amount of age appropriate physical training is also healthy."

The rest of the day Sirius learned breathing and meditation exercises. He was shown basic forms that he needed to practise, and how to use the wooden dummy for training. He kept at it until he had to leave to meet the boys coming home from school.

When he got home, he explained to Dobby how to set up a home gym and studio. He decided on the last guest bedroom to the left. Dobby was also to magically expand it to have room for everything that he wanted to do. While Dobby took care of that, he had a snack with the boys and then watched them kick the football around out front with Ali before the Weasley's had to be home.

"Hey, where were you all day?" Rachel said, sitting down next to Sirius to watch.

"Had to run an errand," Sirius said then looked into her eyes. "I'm sorry, auto response. I went to a dojo to learn some martial arts. I want any advantage I can get."

She nodded and they sat in silence for several minutes before she spoke again. "You know Ali is a bit taken with you. Especially with the, um, you know."

"Yeah, he's a good kid. You're not so bad yourself either." Sirius smiled.

"Where are we headed?" she asked, unsure if she should even broach the subject.

"Where do you want to go?" Sirius responded. "I mean, I do like you. I like you a lot. If you can be comfortable with everything, me, James, and the potential wizard war, then I really would like to see where we might go."

She smiled broadly. "I can handle it. I know that any relationship is always risky, ours perhaps more so, but I'm really glad you're willing to give it a shot." Then she gave him a deep, long, passionate kiss, followed immediately by giggling from the boys who had stopped playing to watch.

"Weasley's, get inside and hit it. Your mother will kill me if you're late. Get going," Sirius bellowed then stopped Rachel. "Hey, er, James invited Dean Proffitt to spend the night this weekend and was wondering if Ali would like to join them. He is his cousin after all. Maybe then you could go have a little fun yourself."

She kissed him again before turning to her son. "Ali, you want to spend the night with James on Saturday? Your cousin Dean is coming over."

"Yaaaay," was the response she got.

After his homework was done, James followed Sirius into the converted guest bedroom. "Wow!"

"Remember how I said that your scar was some how connected to Voldemort?" Sirius asked and James nodded. "Well, I want you to start meditating, and it will help you control that. As well help you control your magic better. I know you said the weird stuff hasn't happened since you left them, but I still might as you get older."

Sirius then explained to him how to breath and clear his mind of thought and emotion. James caught on quickly enough, but Snape would actually be a great help, Sirius thought, and decided to contact him in the morning.

Flash, Spinner's End and an unbreakable vow. Flash, Dumbledore and Snape arguing about it. Flash, Draco failing to kill an obviously weakened Dumbledore. "Flash, a begging Dumbledore killed by Snape. Flash.

Sirius sat up in his bed, panting and gleaming with sweat. He got up and splashed some water on his face. "Whose side is he really on?" Sirius said to his reflection. That definitely changes the letter I was going to send to him, he thought.

After seeing the boys off and doing his morning workout, Sirius decided to meet Snape at Hogwart's without warning. He grabbed a pensieve on the way because he didn't want Snape inside his head, and most definitely didn't want to involve the headmaster.

Snape was in his office during a free period when he heard a knock at the door. He looked up and frowned. No one should be bothering him at this time. "Enter," he said.

Sirius strode in, startling Snape, and walked over to the desk and placed the pensieve on it. He placed his wand to his temple, and pulled out a long, silver filament and place it in the shallow bowl. "I've had another premonition and I would like your assistance."

Snape frowned again, and placed his face into the bowl. When he returned to his office, his normally cold emotionless face was actually filled with fear and dread.

"Just which side are you playing the fool, Snape?" Sirius asked sternly, arms crossed still holding his wand.

For a moment, Snape was actually speechless. Sirius enjoyed that.

"How am I supposed to trust you? I've already forgotten what we did to each other in school. I have real things to deal with now. I don't think I want you anywhere near my son, unless you make a similar vow with me."

"I can't do that, Black. I don't know if I could hold up my end, and since death would be the consequence, I have to refuse."

"You need to think where your loyalties lie, Severus. I will speak with you again."

"No need," Snape replied sternly. "I am loyal to myself, and thats all. I would follow the headmaster only as much to remove the threat of the Dark Lord, and to protect myself. That's why I left the deatheaters in the first place, self preservation."

Sirius was a bit stunned with Snape's blunt honesty, he never expected that, so he could still be lying. "I still don't know if I can trust you. I need to though, because I think that I know how to prevent Voldemort from returning, but I would absolutely need your help."

Snape glared at Sirius, moving closer. He relaxed is stare and said, "I find myself daring to believe that you can, Black. Even with leaving our past in the past, you should know something that I don't think you've been witness to in your dreams, yet."

"Something tells me I won't like it," Sirius said, narrowing his eyes.

"You won't. I'm sure you know of the prophecy. Dumbledore's jaw proves that. I overheard part of the prophecy the night it was made. I still don't know it all, but it was on my information that the Dark Lord went after James and Lily."

Sirius certainly didn't expect this. It took guts to admit something like that. He couldn't just kill Snape, well he could, but James needed his expertise in Occlumency. But could he be trusted now? Sirius just paced back and forth, trying to come up with an answer without damaging Snape...much.

Finally he stopped pacing and went quickly over to Snape and brought his wand up, with _crucio_ in the forefront of his mind. Snape quickly brought up a shield to deflect the curse and Sirius kicked him with all of his might in the Snape family jewels. Snape had tears on his face as he went down.

"I wanted to trust you, Severus. I needed to trust you. I thought we could stop this war before it began, but now I don't think I could ever trust you," Sirius growled and stormed out.

"But Macnair, we can't find him," said a wizard in the small dusty room.

Several wizards were congregated in the main room of a small shack perched on a rock in the middle of the sea.

"Damn it," said another wizard. "the longer we wait, the less our chances of him returning to full power."

"We have no choice then. What ever is left of him is too weak. When we see some sign, then we will move. Avery, do you have any news of the Potter boy?" said Macnair.

"Nothing since the article in the Prophet," said Avery. "I found out that Harry Potter was pulled from a muggle school the next day, but we can't find him registered anywhere else. I checked the Black family house, but there's nothing there but an overgrown empty field. Our information must have been wrong."

"Then get NEW information," Macnair growled.

"We can't." Avery replied. "Whatever that dream was that Black had, it's affected Fudge. He seems to be growing a backbone. Not to mention the muggle fool Weasley's been promoted. Those of us at the Ministry that remained loyal after the Prophet article aren't being given high level tasks now. It seems hopeless."

Macnair clenched his fists then relaxed a bit. "That prophecy that Snape us gave said that the boy would have the power to vanquish our Lord. Our Lord isn't vanquished yet, so he still must have untapped power. If we wait, he may learn to tap it," he said and paced back and forth for a moment. "Has anyone learned of Snape's true loyalties?"

"No sir," said another deatheater. "He's still at Hogwart's, and we don't have anyone there to pass information. Right now, Hogwart's is impenetrable."

"Fine," Macnair said with a sigh. "We keep looking, keep our eyes and ears open. If Fudge can no longer be swayed, then we must stay hidden until we can get rid of him."

Snape slowly walked into Dumbledore's office and placed a pensieve on the desk. "You need to see this, Albus," he said.

Dumbledore paused, Snape had never used his first name before. He stared at him for another moment before pressing his nose into the memory. "Oh dear," he said when he was back in his chair. "Another vision from Sirius?"

"Yes," Snape replied in disgust.

"Aside from you killing me, what else is bothering you, Severus?"

"Black of course. After that night when he woke, I found myself wondering if we could become friends. No, that's not right, it was actually hope, I believe."

"But you never really got along with them, why now?"

"I don't know. I hate them for it. Black said he needed to trust me, that he wanted to trust me, but now," Snape just hung his head. "Blasted Gryffindor. It wouldn't have happened for what, ten years? It's still preventable."

"Perhaps, Severus, but Sirius isn't going to take anymore chances. You know what he did to me," Dumbledore said, rubbing his jaw.

"I do indeed know," Snape said, wincing as he shifted his stance. "I think maybe I would go talk to him, but I don't know where he is."

"He's at Grimmauld Place, isn't he? No, that was destroyed long ago, wasn't it?" Dumbledore said. "You'll have to try and send an owl, then. I have no idea where he might be staying. As for the boy, I'm not going to interfere in the his upbringing. I had much time to reflect about both him and Sirius when I wasn't able to speak."

"But, Headmaster? When he comes to Hogwart's?"

"I will treat him as any other student, as much as possible. It's clear that he's more than just a godson to Sirius, and I intend to treat Sirius no different than any other parent."

Sirius nodded his head and left, anger at Sirius for making him feel this way still just under the surface Blasted Gryffindor.

"So where are you and your sister going?" Sirius said as they waited for Joanne to drop Dean off on Saturday.

"Where aren't we going," she said. "We're going to pick up some of our girlfriends and then we're gonna hit every club we can."

"Sounds like fun," he said.

"Yep. What're you guys gonna do?"

"What aren't we gonna do," he said, chuckling. "I rented a video for later, plus we got video games, and I figure we'll get pizza for dinner."

"Boys night in, sounds like."

"You betcha."

Soon a car pulled up and Dean jump out almost before it stopped.

"Hey, Joanne," Sirius said as Rachel got in.

"Hey, Sirius. You guys have fun," she replied. "Do as Sirius tells you," she said to her son before driving off.

Who would have thought me playing daddy chaperon to a kids sleepover, Sirius though to himself as he watched the boys go inside the house. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle as he made to follow them into the house. He turned around to see one shadow tackle another to the ground. He glanced around and then cast _lumos_, hoping that if anyone was watching, they would think it was a torch. What he saw made him chuckle. Moody was sitting on top of a teenage kid, holding him down.

"Moody, what are you doing?" he asked.

"This kid was takin' photos of you and the boys," Moody replied gruffly.

"How old are you kid?" said Sirius as Moody picked him up roughly.

"I...I'm fifteen," the kid said, obviously scared, shaking as he glanced at Moody, whose magical eye was clearly visible, spinning around in its socket.

"What's your name?" Sirius then asked as he helped him up.

"I..I don't want to tell you." the teen said, his fear increasing.

Sirius stepped forward. "Would you rather I let Moody get it out of you?" he said angrily, thinking of what problems these photos might cause.

He glanced at Moody and squeaked out, "R..Ronan Lestrange."

Both Moody and Sirius had their wands at Ronan's throat in an instant. The eerie glow on his face cast by Sirius' wand made his fear more evident. His eyes cast a glance toward the door of the house. Sirius looked back and saw James standing there, watching.

James whispered to his friends and then came back to where Sirius was standing, while the other two boys retreated into the house.

Sirius turned his gaze back to Ronan in contemplation. "You're a squib," he said, the truth dawning on him.

Moody's eyes, both of them, went wide at the realisation. "A squib eh? So what's with the photos?" he snarled out with a quiet ferocity that would easily rank with Snape's

"The...they kicked me out of the family. They're all looking for you, I just thought..." he trailed off choking back the tears.

"You thought that if you could find me that they would take you back?" Sirius replied, his tone a little softer, and the teen just nodded.

"He can't be trusted, Black," Moody said, "and memory charms can be broken."

Sirius just looked down at the teen squib. Shaggy brown hair and dirty muggle clothes. "What of my son?" Sirius said and motioned James, who had been standing back, over. "Do you realise what the deatheaters want to do to him?"

The teen looked down at James and the tears started to fall. "Ros," he said.

"What?" Sirius said as the teen fell to his knees.

"My little brother. Roswald was my little brother. He was a squib too. I tried to protect him, but they...they said one squib was already too much. They killed him. Never showed any magic ability, just like me. He just turned eleven and didn't get a Hogwart's letter. That was enough for them."

"Why on earth boy, would you want to be accepted in a family like that?" Moody said with an aggression like a slap in the face. The teen even jumped as if he had been hit.

"I don't know," he said with a small voice, looking down at the ground. Then he picked up the camera and opened the back, exposing all of the film. "I just don't know what to do anymore."

"Dad?" Sirius looked down at James. "Remember how you said everyone thought you were the one because of the Black family line? Even though you were best friends with my first dad?" James eyes showed nothing but compassion as he spoke.

"Yeah," Sirius said, "Ronan? I ran away from my family when I was sixteen, because I couldn't stand their insanity anymore. I went to live with my best friend."

"I still don't trust him," Moody said. "He could be a spy."

"Fine," Sirius said, and pointed his wand at Ronan. "_Legilimens._"

The meditation had been helping organize his mind and magic, and while he wasn't anywhere near as skilled at it as Snape or Dumbledore, a squib wouldn't be difficult, by any means. What Sirius saw, as he moved from memory to memory, made him increasingly sick. Then he came upon the murder of the younger boy, and he wretched, breaking the spell.

"Are you okay, dad?" James said, getting worried. "What did you see?"

"Something I hope you never see, son," Sirius said, straightening back up. "Ronan, if you promise to never go back to them, or betray us in anyway, you can stay here. At least for the time being, until we can figure out a more permanent solution to help you."

"I promise, I swear," said Ronan eagerly. "I'll even take a wizard's oath if it'll work."

Moody gave a half hearted smile. He was satisfied, and went back to his house while the Sirius and James escorted Ronan in.

Dobby led the teen to a guest bedroom and he was out like a light, not having slept much in the passed several days. Sirius and James then joined the other boys in the rec room for video games, pizza, and the movie 'Ghostbuster's'. He had the boys build a pallet out of a mass of several quilts, blankets, and assorted pillows in the floor back from the big screen TV. They had a brilliant time a fell asleep right where they were as Sirius read to them from 'Tom Sawyer'.

Rachel came over the next morning to have breakfast with the boys and found her fondness for Sirius grow a notch when she went down to the rec room. Amidst the pillows and blankets, slept Sirius, his right arm around James, and his left arm around Ali, with Dean snuggled close to his cousin, hanging onto Sirius' arm, the open book laying in his lap.

She crept back up the stairs and whispered, "Dobby?" who popped in quietly.

"Yes ma'am, Miss Rachel?"

"Is there a camera in the house somewhere? I want to take a picture of the boys, it's so sweet."

"Yes ma'am, Miss Rachel," Dobby said and popped out and back, handing her the camera.

She went back downstairs and snapped the photo. This is just too good, she thought to herself.

At breakfast, everyone was introduced to Ronan, a distant cousin of Sirius' who needed a place to stay for a while. After Sirius took Dean home, they decided to hit Diagon Alley. Nobody gave them a second glance, it seemed that the Prophet article had died down considerably. Ronan had been nervous at first, but nobody paid any attention to him either.

After ice cream, they went to get James a wand. He had been hinting to Sirius about learning magic before Hogwart's, and Sirius was eager to oblige. Into Olivander's they went, and soon, the older wizard appeared.

"Ah yes, Mr. Black and son. And Mr. Lestrange, I believe. Odd seeing you here," Olivander said curiously.

"Yes, well, he had some problems and we're helping out," Sirius said, "Anyway, I thought we might get James' wand a little early, maybe do some home schooling."

"A bit unusual, yes, but not unheard of," the old wizard said as he pulled out a tape measure, which began taking measurements of its own accord.

"No need to bother, Olivander," Sirius said. "I think I know which wand will choose him."

Olivander and the tape measure stopped abruptly. "Ah, yes, the dream. Tell me, Mr. Black, which one was it?" he said with an odd smile of the cat that ate the canary.

"A certain brother wand of a certain dark wizard who, shall we say, remain nameless." Sirius said confidently.

"I thought you might say that, Mr. Black. However, as you have already given young James a loving home, you have already set in motion changes to that prophecy as well as perhaps another. I cannot sell you that wand for James."

"What?" Sirius said. "Why not?"

"Why because I've already sold it," he said with that same smile.

Sirius got nervous again, because James would need that wand if they couldn't prevent the events from his fourth year from happening. "To who?" he said.

"You, that night you woke up of course."

**A/N: **_I would like your opinion on making Ali a muggleborn and/or should Sirius and Rachel get married at some point. I've ran the course of my original idea for this story so now it's writing itself. Your thoughts are greatly appreciated. Please review, thanks for reading. _


	4. To Thine Own Self Be True

"**Unveiling The Future"**

**Chapter 4, "To Thine Own Self Be True"**

Sirius slipped his wand out of his sleeve and looked at it more closely. Indeed it was the one that James had gotten in the dream. "But what does that mean?" he asked.

"It means simply that things are changing." Olivander replied and continued measuring James for a wand as he grabbed boxes off shelves. In typical Olivander fashion, he got more excited as they went through the boxes...for a while. After a while, he was sure that the boy would need a custom wand. "Young Mr. Black is going to need a custom wand, I'm afraid. I would like to try something, first though." he said as he took Sirius' wand and handed it to James.

An icy cold wind blew through the shop as James held the wand, blowing his hair up and away from his scar.

"Interesting," Olivander said. "He should be able to use your wand until I complete the new wand, Mr. Black, and I expect the results to be, shall we say, extraordinary."

"But it's usually a warm breeze when you find your wand, isn't it?" Sirius asked.

"Indeed it is, Mr. Black," Olivander replied. "But, it seems, the boy is the other half of your magical self. It is clear, that you are devoted to him, and that your fates are intertwined. Now," he changed the subject swiftly, "what can you tell me about James from your prophetic dream? Unique skills that might tell me what to use to make his wand."

Ronan watched on with a tinge of jealousy, wishing so much for this kind of family. He struggled to hold back the silent tears of his pain. He hoped he could stay with the Blacks, even if it wasn't his real family, it was better than he ever had with his own flesh and blood.

"Well," thought Sirius, wondering just how much he should divulge, "Voldemort, passed some of his powers to James when the curse failed."

"Really?" Olivander queried, eyebrows raised.

"Yes. Don't get me wrong, he is definitely his father's son, just a little intensified, thats all," Sirius said, to which Olivander just nodded, as if to say 'get on with it'. "Well, er, his most prominent power I think is that he's a parselmouth."

"Indeed," Olivander said as he glanced at a blushing James before he started pacing quickly. "Yes, perfect, absolutely," he continued after several minutes. "It will be made of multiple components, yes indeed. Five components in all, representing the five elements. Yes, two types of wood, braided together," he said rapidly, still pacing. "Willow, like your mother's, shall represent water, and Mahogany, like your father's, representing earth. Representing spirit will be James himself. The core will be from Voldemort's addition, representing fire. Eye of Basilisk. It may take some time for me to acquire that, though."

A goofy smile spread on Sirius face. "I know where there is a large basilisk. Would that be worth something to you?" Sirius said as he thought that this would change the entire second year of the dream.

"Indeed," Olivander replied curiously, "I think we could work something out. I'll owl you and we'll set up the details to retrieve it."

Sirius nodded in agreement just as James cried out and grabbed his head.

"James, what's wrong? Is your scar hurting?" Sirius asked as he knelt down beside James, glancing out of the window for anyone who might be possessed by Voldemort.

"No, it's not my scar," he said pointing to just above his left eye, the scar was over his right. "It just hurt really bad suddenly."

Sirius pulled James' hand away to examine his forehead. There was no mark, but it did seem a little red, but that could be from him pressing on it.

Sirius kissed James forehead and asked, "Is it getting better now?"

"Yeah, it was just so weird. It was like I hit my head on something, and then it started going away."

"I'm glad its not hurting anymore," Sirius said before turning back to Olivander. "Alright, I'll owl you the details once I come up with a plan to get to its cave and kill it. All you have to do is figure out how to get it out of the cave. Oh, what is the fifth ingredient?"

"Ah, you, Sirius," he replied, getting a puzzled look from him. "Your love and guidance is the air that feeds the fire of James' magic."

Sirius smiled, and shook Olivander's hand and then he, James, and Ronan headed out. They enjoyed the rest of the day in the Alley. They got a few beginner books for James to start studying. It was a pretty good day, except James had more pain hit him above his left eye just as they decided to leave.

Not taking any chances, Sirius took James to St. Mungo's. He was going to send Ronan home, but decided against it. Once there, he explained to the healer's what had happened, and they decided to perform some spells to test for various injuries. They couldn't find anything, and attributed it to residual effects of the curse scar, which may have intensified now that James was more exposed to magic after so long without that exposure.

After tucking James in bed, Sirius went to Ronan's room to talk. "Ronan, I saw that something was wrong back at Olivander's. You want to tell me about it?"

Ronan looked at his feet. "It's nothing. I just never had family who treated me the way you treat James, is all."

Sirius wasn't really sure what to say to that. He was still new to this parenting thing. "You were feeling jealous, weren't you?" he finally said, thinking how he felt those first few days at his best friends house. "I know how you feel, I felt the same way when I ran away from home, to my best friends house."

"But I was gonna hurt you, turn you in to my old family, and then you take me in. It's a little confusing."

Sirius made a decision then. "Well, let me tell you something. I want you to stay with us. We'll get you registered for school, and I'll get the minister to okay guardianship for you. We all make mistakes, and you were just trying to find a way to survive. Don't get me wrong though, hurting James would have made me kick your ass from here to next year. But I can clearly see, that's not really your nature. James Sr's parents took me in and gave me a home. It's the right thing to do, Ronan. So don't worry about it, okay?"

Ronan gave Sirius a hug. "Thanks, Sirius. I really appreciate it."

Sirius stepped into James' room before he went to bed. As he watched James, the peaceful look on his sleeping face turned to one of fear as he dreamed. Suddenly he cried out and grabbed at his back.

"James," Sirius cried as he ran over to the bed. "What's the matter? Are you okay?"

"They hurt Jim, dad." James said as the pain subsided and he opened his eyes.

"Jim?" Sirius asked.

"The boy in my dream." James looked up at Sirius.

"But you grabbed your back as if it was you," Sirius said as he hugged James and rubbed his back.

"He looks like me. It was like it was me, in the dream. I don't know, it was kinda weird."

"Did you recognize who it was? It could have been prophetic like mine."

"I don't know who it was, I never saw them before."

Sirius kept rubbing James' back as he thought about the dream. He finally decided it was probably some lingering fear from the kidnapping. Soon James drifted off to sleep again, with no further dreams like that.

The next day, Sirius got a call from the dealership about his car. He took it in to have it checked over, luckily everything was fine.

"What made you think something was wrong?" Sirius asked the man who sold him the car.

"Sad story really. There were only two of the model you bought, if you remember. A couple came in wanting it in the forest green that you bought. They settled on the arctic blue that was left. They had a son about the age of yours I guess, and he liked the blue better anyway. But there was a defect and it caused an accident. The couple died and the boy survived with only a cut to the forehead. Turns out he was adopted so he ended up at some institute for boys. The police investigation was just completed, citing a failed part. I just wanted to be sure though, I would hate to see another child become an orphan or worse."

Sirius was both shocked and saddened at the story. It could have been him and James. He also noticed it matched the lie the Dursley's made up about James and Lily. Weird, he thought.

"You take care, Mr. Black," the man said returning the keys to him.

"Thanks for checking," Sirius said before leaving.

As he was driving back a thought popped into his head to adopt the boy. If he hadn't bought the car, the kid wouldn't have ended up an orphan, again. "I hate to see a kid hurt like that, but life is getting too busy right now," he told his conscience. Logic ruling over the heart, this time.

He spent the next week working out and doing heavy meditation. He was getting pretty good at controlling his glimpses into a future that might have been after he fell into the veil. The fates wanted him to stop Voldemort it seemed. If he could then James might have a normal life, and a lot of lives could be saved, especially his own. He shivered at the thought of the veil.

Ronan enrolled in the local secondary school, and was doing well. He spent all of his time studying, so he could perhaps go to university soon. As a squib, it seems the magic he didn't get was made up for in intellectual ability. He was absorbing muggle subjects like a sponge, with particular skills in math and science. After a few weeks, he saw the comparisons between potions and chemistry, so he added potions to his studies.

Dumbledore walked into his office to find Sirius sitting at his desk, feet propped up, again. "How do you keep getting in here?" he said, a tinge of fear in his voice.

"Marauder's secret, Albus, and don't worry, I'm not going to hit you again," Sirius said with a chuckle. "I need you to make sure that all of the students are gone for the Christmas holiday. Jimmy and I have to take care of something. A danger, really, that this school needs to be rid of before Jimmy's second year."

Dumbledore pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "You've had another vision?" he said, allowing his gaze to meet Sirius' eyes.

"Well, yes, but not about that," Sirius said, locking his eyes on the headmaster's, pushing him back out of his mind. "That, is something I already knew about, and now I have a plan to rid the school of the monster that dwells within the Chamber of Secrets."

"Surely you jest, Black," came the cold voice of Snape as he entered.

"Not when it comes to the life of Jimmy," Sirius continued, seriously. "We absolutely must keep this a secret. I also have a plan to at least slow what is left of Voldemort down, if not stop him permanently, but I'll need your help to do it."

Snape and Dumbledore stared incredulously at the Marauder.

"What of what you showed me in the pensieve? You would trust me now?" Snape said, coolly.

Sirius got up and strode around the desk. "I can control the visions better now," he said. "You were under an unbreakable vow, and were forced to kill our beloved headmaster," he added with sarcasm to 'beloved'.

Sirius faced away from them and let the shock sink in with a smirk. "It seems young Malfoy got himself in a spot of trouble with a risen dark lord, and my cousin begged you to help. Albus insisted you keep the vow, as well, although I can't imagine why you wanted to die old man." He turned back to face them. "Enough of that now. We have time to prevent all of that. But first, the Chamber," he said with an evil smile reminiscent of his prankster days, and then told them what he would need without divulging any details of his plan.

The time had come for Sirius and Jimmy to head to Hogwart's to kill the basilisk that had been asleep for the last fifty years. As they were about to climb on the bike and head to Hogwart's, Sirius noticed that Jimmy seemed a little scared.

"What's the matter, Jimmy? It'll be okay, I won't let anything happen to you." Sirius said in concern.

"It's not that, dad," Jimmy said sadly. "It's...it's Jim."

Sirius picked up the boy and held him close. "We talked about this, son."

"I know, dad. But you should have heard how he felt when I told him that I couldn't talk to him anymore," Jimmy said as tears started rolling down his cheeks. "I really don't think it's Voldemort playing with me, and I didn't make Jim up, he's real. He said I was the only thing that made it so he could deal the institute where he lives."

"It'll be alright, son," Sirius said and held him close.

He'd taken Jimmy to St. Mungo's, but they were unable to help. The killing curse scar was unheard of. The idea that Jim was made up didn't go over well. He then suggested that it was Voldemort, somehow trying to mess with his head, and Jimmy reluctantly accepted that. He told Jimmy it would be best if he were to stop talking to this Jim, and especially not tell him any plans they had. Now he didn't know what to do.

Sirius sighed as he held Jimmy. "Alright, you can talk to him, just don't tell him anything we're trying to do."

Jimmy calmed down and tried to talk to Jim. "He doesn't answer, dad. I think he's mad at me."

"It'll be okay. I don't think he could stay mad at you, not if he needed you as much as you say," Sirius said, rubbing Jimmy's back.

"You think so?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah, just keep trying to contact him, but later. Right now, I need you to be focused on what we have to do right now, okay?"

"Yeah," Jimmy said with a smile, obviously starting to feel better. "Let's go get the snake so I can get my own wand."

Sirius smiled and set Jimmy on the back of his Harley and jumped on the front. He kicked the engine to life and flicked the switches Dobby installed to control the warming charm, as well as the invisibility created by the thestral hair. He smiled back at Jimmy as he clicked on the radio and 'Ride The Lightning' by Metallica started playing. Smoothly they rose into the air and turned north toward Hogwart's. Sirius gunned the engine and they sped across the sky with no fear.

They met the others for the plan in the entrance hall. Everyone else had already arrived. Sirius handed refractory goggles to everyone as he led them through the hall.

"Got the Mandrake potion ready, Severus?" Sirius said as they walked.

"Yes," Snape smirked. "Just where is the bloody Chamber?"

"You'll see," Sirius replied. "Hagrid, you got the packages?"

"Got 'em right here, Sirius," the large man replied.

"How many?" Sirius asked.

"Three of 'em, just in case. Boxes are smell proof too, just like you said," Hagrid said, smiling the whole time.

"Good. You can do the sonorous charm?"

"Yep, been practisin' all week. Got it down perfect."

"Excellent. I don't see anything that could go wrong," Sirius just kept walking, Jimmy right by his side. "Olivander, you and Snape got it worked out how you'll split up the basilisk?"

"We are agreed," the wandmaker and potionsmaster replied at once.

"Good," Sirius said as they reached the girls bathroom on the second floor.

"You're kidding," Snape said in disbelief.

"Nope," Sirius replied and entered, followed quickly by the others. "Myrtle, we're here to avenge your death and rid the school of a monster," he said when Moaning Myrtle floated out of her stall.

She giggled and floated down to Jimmy. "You're cute. I hope you come and visit me when you start school."

Jimmy's shock at seeing a ghost quickly turned to a blush and he tried to hide behind Sirius.

After shooing Myrtle away and locating the tap with the snake carved into the handle, Sirius knelt down in front of Jimmy and said, "Okay, are you ready? Just like we practised."

Jimmy nodded and then stared at the tap. Thinking of snakes he hissed out in parseltongue, "_Open up_."

Everyone was a little startled hearing parseltongue, but kept their minds on the task ahead and watched as the tap glowed with a brilliant white light and began to spin. Then, a second later, the sink moved, and sank completely out of sight, revealing a pipe large enough for a man to slide through.

Sirius thought it wouldn't have made sense that Slytherin would have made a dirty slide and motioned Jimmy forward. "Okay, try it, Jimmy."

"_Reveal stairs_," Jimmy hissed out and steps formed on the bottom of the pipe as it expanded large enough for a man to walk down.

"I knew it," Sirius said with a smile and led everyone down.

The stairs zigged and zagged as they headed deep under the castle. Eventually they reached the bottom, and continued through the curves of the underground tunnel until they came to the end. Carved on the wall were two entwined snakes, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds.

"I wish we had that bloody good luck potion," Sirius mumbled. "Alright, goggles on. Jimmy, go ahead."

Slipping the goggles in front of his eyes, Jimmy looked at the eerie looking carvings and hissed out, "_Open_."

The snakes parted as the wall cracked open and the two halves slid smoothly out of sight bringing the Chamber Of Secrets to life once again. Torches sprang to life, dimly lighting the long chamber before them as they stepped in. There were stone pillars with more carved snakes towering out of sight as they touched the dark ceiling, casting great shadows through the odd, greenish gloom that filled the place.

They walked slowly along, led by Sirius and Jimmy, towards the far end where a statue as high as the ceiling sat. It was ancient and monkey like, with a long, thin beard that hung to almost the bottom of the wizard's sweeping, stone robes.

Sirius felt Jimmy start to tremble as they looked up at the face of the old wizard. He knelt down and pulled off the refractive goggles. "Jimmy, all you have to do is speak firmly. You control it. It will do what you tell it."

"I...I can't remember what to say," Jimmy said nervously.

"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwart's four," Sirius said reassuringly. "Just remember to not look at its eyes and you'll be fine. Just take a deep breath and relax, I'm right here, okay?"

Jimmy nodded as he and Sirius put the goggles back on. Everyone stepped into the shadows and waited. Hagrid stood ready with the boxes and his new wand. Sirius glanced at everyone and then gave the go ahead to Jimmy.

With a deep breath, Jimmy began firmly and confidently. "_Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwart's four_," he hissed and the statues jaw began opening, revealing a gaping hole. "_Awake, great beast of Slytherin, it is time to rise again_," Jimmy called out and there was a deep rumbling from the mouth of the statue.

"_At last, my master has called me. The hunger is great_," came a hiss from the basilisk as it appeared.

"_You will not kill yet_," Jimmy said firmly. "_I have others here that are useful to me, you will not harm them_."

"_But their blood is sweet, master, and the hunger is great, it has been so long_," the basilisk hissed as its body continued to fall from the mouth of Slytherin.

Sirius had kept his eyes focused only on Jimmy, and saw him start to tremble again. "What's wrong?" he whispered.

"I think it knows somethings up," Jimmy whispered back. "Do it now, please," he pleaded, keeping his eyes on the body of the great serpent.

Sirius shifted his gaze along the ground over to where Hagrid was and gave him a nod. Hagrid quickly opened the boxes and cast a sonorous on the creatures inside, but accidentally glanced up at the serpent and was petrified, falling over on the first box, crushing it.

"Shit," Sirius muttered quietly, trying to think what to do. "What would Hermione do?" he thought to himself. "Duh, the shadows. They're too calm, maybe even asleep, they need light."

"_What are you doing, young master? I smell deception_," the basilisk said and reared up, hissing.

"Daddy," Jimmy cried, "hurry!"

Sirius drew his wand and conjured a floating fireball, and sent it over the two remaining boxes that Hagrid had brought with them. Immediately sounds erupted from the boxes, amplified by the sonorous charm that Hagrid had cast. The call of roosters could be heard resounding off the walls of the chamber. Sirius grabbed Jimmy and dove for cover as the giant basilisk fell to the ground, it's weight cracking the stone when it struck. The great monster of the Chamber of Secrets was dead.

"I still can't believe the Headmaster agreed to let you bring the child down here," Snape said coldly as he and the wandmaker emerged from the shadows.

"Because I could keep him safe," Sirius replied just as coldly. "Do you have the potion?"

"I didn't bring it with me, sorry," Snape smirked. "I guess that oaf will just have to wait."

"I thought you were over this shite. I need to trust you, so go get it, now," Sirius said staring Snape in the face, his anger increasing.

"I will when I'm ready," Snape smiled evilly. "And you're not fast enough with a wand to do anything about it. Dumbledore may have gotten a little too slow, but I haven't."

"Um, Snivellus, it wasn't my spell casting ability that made Dumbledore do the right thing," Sirius said then flared up his magic and punched Snape with an uppercut to the chin. "It was that," he said as Snape landed twenty feet away, out cold.

"Dad?" Jimmy said behind him.

"Sorry, Jimmy, but Hagrid's a good friend and Snape isn't. I've tried to get along with Snape, but he's a bully, and I kinda like hurting bullies." Sirius said, reveling in how good that felt.

Jimmy smiled. "Er, okay," he said, and left with Sirius while the others took care of splitting up the beast as various ingredients.

A quick ennervate and a scowl, Snape headed for the hospital wing, as his jaw was broken. He gave Pomfrey the potion for Hagrid, and she performed a quick bone healing spell, and then went to revive the half giant. Once Hagrid was awake, he used his strength to help the others with the great serpent.

Sirius and Jimmy had a blast decorating the house for Christmas. It was Sirius' first time as a parent, and Jimmy's first time in a real family. A large tree in the front room, decorated the muggle way, of course. Blinking, multicoloured lights, strung around it and the house, along with various ornaments and tinsel, made the house a home for both of them. The Weasley's, along with Moody, Remus, Rachel and Ali, were invited over for Christmas dinner, and Dobby was going to expand the dinning room for the day.

With everything decorated, and the invites made and accepted, that left Christmas shopping. Rachel and Ali went with Sirius and Jimmy to the local mall, to take care of that. One parent would watch the kids while the other did the actually buying.

Sirius did say his would take a little longer, because he had to pop over to Diagon Alley. Rachel didn't mind a bit, knowing that apparating meant it shouldn't take all that much extra time. She promised to keep it secret from Jimmy as well.

With a pop, Sirius found himself outside a portrait studio in Diagon Alley. He pulled two vials out of his pocket, each filled with a golden liquid. He sighed and whispered to the vials.

"It's been a while, and I love my son, your son. I'm ready to share him now, I think."

He sighed again and went into the shop and set the vials down on the counter. He looked around the shop, taking in the various frames available. A gentleman with white hair and round glasses then came out from the back. He walked up to the counter and gave Sirius a sympathetic smile seeing the look on his face.

"It's hard sometimes," the gentleman said. "But those that have passed have not truly left us."

"It's not that," Sirius said and sighed heavily again. "They were my best friends, but what worries me, is how my godson will take it. He never knew them."

"Oh. Oh, I see. I also see that you love him, and he loves you. Be there for each other, and that will be enough."

"Thank you," Sirius replied, and filled out the parchment, and paid the man.

"It will arrive on Christmas morning."

"Thanks again."

"Good luck, young man."

The sentimental stuff out of the way, Sirius got down to some serious spoiling. Jimmy had never had toys or a Christmas, and this first one was going to be special, Sirius vowed. He bought trains, balls, slot cars, video games, he just kept going and going like a pink rabbit. He shrunk everything, but his pockets were still near overflowing by the time he returned to Rachel and the kids.

"What the hell?" Rachel asked, staring at Sirius' bulging pockets.

"Magical shrinkage," he said with a blush.

"Now that's handy. I'm jealous," she replied before heading off for her turn while Sirius looked after the boys.

She took as long as he had, but didn't buy nearly as much. Soon, they were back home, and wrapping the gifts. Dobby could have handled it all, but they wanted to do it themselves.

Sirius was giddy on the night before Christmas, as he set up the stuff he left unwrapped, like the trains and slot cars, and a brand new bicycle, which was kind of tame compared to a broom, but he could ride it in front of muggles.

Sirius knew he would have to teach him to ride, but looked forward to that part of parenting. Plus he wanted to but Jimmy his own motorbike when he was older too.

It was still early in the morning when Sirius made it to bed. He checked on Jimmy, who was still sound a sleep, before hitting the sack. Jimmy had been having nightmares about the Dursleys and Voldemort sometimes, and he was worried they would never end.

Sirius woke to find himself wrapped in Jimmy's arms again. He didn't mind too much, as it wasn't often Jimmy needed to sleep with him, and would probably miss it when Jimmy got too old.

Sirius sat up slowly and stretched a bit. "C'mon, time to get up," he said.

"Breakfast will be ready in a minute, Uncle Vernon," Jimmy mumbled out sadly and then woke up.

He looked around with tears in his eyes and jumped on Sirius, knocking him back onto the bed in a fierce hug. "I thought it was all a dream," he cried.

It had been a while since something like this happened, and it made Sirius sad and angry at the same time. He sat up, holding Jimmy for several minutes, just rubbing his back.

"Okay now?" Sirius asked finally.

"Yeah, I dreamed about Jim again. He's as unhappy at the institute as I was at the Dursley's."

"Well, I think I know what might make you happy," Sirius said as he stood up with Jimmy in his arms, and carried him down to the front room.

Jimmy's eyes went wide at all of the toys. And the bike. Once Sirius sat him on his feet, he slowly went over and looked at everything. The coloured, sparkling light reflected off the tinsel from the small bulbs lining the tree was almost surreal. He saw the beauty of the tree and the presents and the toys and for the first time, knew what Christmas actually felt like.

He ran back to Sirius and hugged him. "Thanks dad, this is the best," he sobbed out.

"You want to open the rest of your presents?" Sirius asked as Jimmy just stared at it all.

"Not yet," he whispered, almost afraid it would disappear if he talked too loud.

Dobby brought breakfast into the room and conjured a low table for them to eat at.

"Good idea," Sirius smiled and plopped himself on the floor, surrounded by all of the presents.

Jimmy joined him on the other side of the little table and they tucked in. Syrupy, cinnamony, French Toast was breakfast, and to them, tasted as Christmasy as their surroundings. Especially with hot chocolate and little marshmallows, along with fresh orange juice. It was Christmas breakfast in a Christmas wonderland, with the toy train chugging along around them on its track. Neither of them would ever forget this first Christmas together, even if Dobby hadn't discreetly took a million photos of this moment.

Jimmy was giddy with every present that he opened. He wouldn't let himself get like his cousin though, demanding more and better presents. He truly was happy just having a dad now, all of this was just extra.

Sirius was appreciating parent more than ever before with his presents. A handmade card, with glitter and pretty good pictures drawn for a kid Jimmy's age. It thanked him for rescuing him, and said that he loved him with all his heart. The gift was a ceramic cup, vase, or jewelry holder, typical for muggle art class, but more beautiful than anything Sirius had ever seen, and not just because Jimmy made it either. Sirius almost wondered if Jimmy had used magic to help make it. Sirius was brought to tears with it all. Happy tears, he told Jimmy with a hug.

Finally they were down to the last present. A large, thin, square shaped box with both of their names on it stared at them from the corner of the room. It was nicely wrapped in paper with little pictures of Father Christmas all over it. Although Sirius knew what it was, he was as anxious as Jimmy to open it, scared too.

"Jimmy," Sirius started, "this is a special gift, and to be honest, I'm worried about how much you'll like it."

"What is it?" Jimmy started getting worried at Sirius' tone.

Sirius picked up the package and stared at it. "You know how pictures can move?" he asked and Jimmy nodded. "Well, some pictures can be made with an imprint, or memory of the person, giving it the personality of that person. Understand?"

Jimmy thought for a minute, "Yeah. Who is it a picture of?" he figured out, and was afraid of who it might be.

"I think you know, son," Sirius said, seeing the look on Jimmy's face. "Are you okay? We don't have to open it now," he said after Jimmy remained silent for several minutes.

Jimmy took a deep breath. "I'm okay, now. I want to see them."

Together they tore the paper off and stared at the painting of James and Lily Potter.

"A spell activates the imprint. I think we should do it together, whenever you're ready," Sirius said as Jimmy climbed into his lap and continued to stare at the painting.

"Okay, I'm ready. What's the spell?" he said.

"Resurrectio teneo, remember to speak clearly, okay?" Sirius said and Jimmy nodded.

Sirius then pulled out his wand, and they both took hold of it. With a deep breath, they pointed the wand at the painting and spoke the words clearly. The painting glowed faintly for a moment, and then...

"Shit," James said and Lily scowled at him. "Sorry, I was just hoping we would have lived to see Harry grow up."

"Don't call me that," Jimmy said, and his painted parents gave him a look of confusion.

"Jimmy goes by his middle name, guys," Sirius said. "Wormtail sold us out, and I was framed for it. Dumbledore stuck him with your sister, Lily. They put him through hell until I was able to get to him."

"Harry Potter's dead," Jimmy said with an angry frown. Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and cousin Dudley saw to that."

James and Lily Potter looked at their son in sad understanding.

"Where is Albus?" Lily said so angrily and sternly Sirius thought she might climb out of the painting and go after the old man.

Sirius smiled. Never mess with a mother's child. He and Jimmy then proceeded to tell them of everything that had happened. Sirius' prophetic dream and burgeoning psychic ability, Jimmy's life with the Dursleys and the rescue, the kidnapping when Rita Skeeter sold an article to the muggle newspapers, and the adventure in the Chamber of Secrets.

James and Lily were horrified most of the way through the story, but extremely glad that Sirius was working to make sure the dreams didn't come true, and didn't mind at all of Harry going by the name Jimmy Black. It seemed to fit the young boy before them. James had to laugh out loud when Sirius told him about decking Dumbledore, and the subsequent wiring of his jaw shut. Even Lily smiled at that, though she would still give Albus a piece of her mind if he ever showed up. James really loved it when he heard of the similar instance with Snape.

"I see that you're trying your best to spoil him," Lily said, looking around the room at all of the toys. "Unless these are yours," she added, getting a giggle from James and Jimmy.

"It's our first Christmas together, so I wanted it to be special," Sirius said in his defense.

"So where are you going to hang us?" James asked.

"Well," Sirius blushed. "I was thinking in here if you guys can remain still when muggles are around, and..." he trailed off.

"What did you do?" Lily scolded.

"Er, I ordered two dozen extra copies so we can protect Jimmy as much as possible," Sirius offered.

"I'm sure," Lily stated and shook her head. "While I don't doubt you truly love Jimmy, and want to protect him as much as possible, you mainly wanted the extra portraits to help pull some pranks."

Both Sirius and James blushed in embarrassment and Jimmy giggled.

The doorbell rang at that moment, and Jimmy turned to Sirius and said, "I'll get it dad," and hopped down and ran to the door.

James frowned a little, and then turned a bit sad.

"Sirius is his father now, James," Lily said and gave James a hug.

"I know. It's just that I only got to hold him for a year and that's it."

"Well, now you can play the spoiling uncle, then," she said and he perked up a bit.

"Hey, that's my job," Remus said as he came in and gave Sirius a hug.

Rachel and Ali followed him in, and Sirius not only gave her a hug, but a kiss too.

"Trying to make me jealous?" Remus said jokingly before saying a sad hello to James and Lily when he noticed the portrait.

Remus and Sirius hung the portrait over the fireplace before sitting down to chat. Ali was fascinated by the portrait, especially when James kept making faces at the boy, eliciting giggles from both him and Jimmy. Soon, Moody arrived, followed by the Weasleys, who came the muggle way rather than get all dirty using floo. Introductions were made of the older redheaded children as well as the youngest, and they all settled back to enjoy each other's company. Dobby was happy as a clam to be serving so many nice people, so much work to do, his Christmas wish was answered.

About fifteen minutes before dinner, there was an ominous knock on the door. Sirius quickly drew his wand as nobody else was expected, Ronan was staying at school with his new friends. Sirius gasped at what he saw. Ollivander was there, dressed expertly as a muggle. He entered the living room and everyone else gasped as well, never in their life seeing him dressed like that.

Sirius was about to close the door when Ronan ran in and hugged Sirius.

"What's the matter kiddo?" Sirius asked concerned as everyone looked on.

"I thought they were my friends, but they just set me up because I always do better than them," he struggled out.

"It's okay," Sirius said soothingly and made the introductions to those who didn't know him once he had calmed down.

"Well, er, what are you doing here, Ollivander?" Sirius asked when things had settled down.

"I finished Jimmy's wand. My best work, I think," he said and James and Lily leaned forward with interest, well, as much as they could, being a portrait that is..

Jimmy took the smartly wrapped box and tore the paper off quickly. The box was made of oak, with intricate runes carved on it. "Wow," Jimmy said, almost afraid to open it.

"C'mon," Fred and George said. "Let's see it."

Jimmy looked to Ron, who seemed a little upset. Both Arthur and Molly saw this, and vowed to take Sirius' advice more to heart.

"Okay, here goes," Jimmy said, and opened the box.

The wand was exquisite. The two woods intertwined beautifully, and the magical core seemed to hum throughout the room. Everyone felt it. Jimmy set the box down, and picked up the wand. Immediately the warmth spread through out the room, and a dim white aura seemed to engulf Jimmy and Sirius for a moment. They looked at each other and smiled.

Jimmy gave the wand a wave, and sparks every colour of the rainbow poured out, reflecting off the tinsel brighter than the Christmas lights.

"Wow!" Jimmy exclaimed as he felt his magic merge with the wand. "This is cool."

"Let me try," Ali almost whined.

"But you're not a wizard," Ron said as Jimmy handed his wand to the younger boy.

Ali smiled and stuck his tongue out at the redhead, and spun around in a circle with glee. Halfway through the circle, though, yellow sparks started coming out the end of the wand. Ali got frightened and dropped the wand, running to his mother.

"It got warm," he almost cried.

"He's a muggleborn," Lily interjected, causing them all to look at her. "I felt the same way, remember Mr. Ollivander?"

Just then Ronan ran upstairs to his room and slammed the door. Sirius looked at a loss about what to do. Arthur and Molly shrugged their shoulders when he looked at them.

"We got this," Bill, the oldest Weasley child at 17, said confidently as he, Fred, and George got up and headed for Ronan's room.

"This parenting stuff is hard," Sirius said, pacing back and forth a few minutes later.

"It will be alright," Arthur said. "Remember how they helped Jimmy? Bill's got a good head on his shoulders, it'll work out, you'll see."

"I'm sorry cause I got magic and Ronan doesn't," Ali whimpered suddenly.

"It's not your fault, buddy," Sirius said, kneeling down to him. "You should be glad for something special. Everyone has their own special, even Ronan does. It's just different than other people's."

With a hug, Ali nodded and wiped his eyes. Sirius stood up and everyone was looking at him. Lily and James were smiling widely as was Rachel.

"What?" he said.

"Who would have thought?" James said, still grinning.

"Oh shut up," Sirius told the portrait with a chuckle and the door to Ronan's room opened.

Ronan came down followed by the Weasley children. "I'm sorry for earlier," he said and Sirius gave him a one armed hug.

"S'okay, we all have our moments," Sirius said.

"Dinner is ready," Dobby announced and they all headed for the dinning room.

"Hey, Ollivander, stay for dinner," Sirius said as the wandmaker started to leave.

"No, its...why not?" he smiled and followed the dark haired wizard back into the house.

After dinner, they went to the patio out back. The adults talked while the kids played in the snow, although, Sirius, Remus, and Arthur joined in some of the time. Well, most of the time. Even Rachel joined in at the end.

Soon everyone who had played in the snow cleaned up, and the guests left. Sirius gave Rachel a kiss before she left, and Ali, Jimmy, and Ronan, made the typical 'Ooh' sound.

A few days later, and Sirius was done setting up the extra portraits all over the place, many of which he put in Hogwart's. He also put one in the basement, and in his and Jimmy's bedrooms. With a curtain for privacy of course.

As winter gave way to spring, Sirius became more worried about Jimmy. Things had happened so fast, and this Jim that Jimmy wouldn't let go of. He had heard of imaginary friends, but Jimmy seemed so sure. The nightmares were real enough, and Jimmy had started sleeping with him half the time or more.

He seemed fine during the day, as long as Sirius spent time with him after school. It was the nights that were getting tough. It was suggested that 'Jim' was a creation of his subconscious, and was a visualization of the trauma caused by the Dursleys. Sirius would have sued the Dursleys, but didn't want Jimmy to have to deal with them again, so he let it go.

Meditation was the only treatment available, because Sirius wasn't about to drug Jimmy, and potions weren't a much better choice. The meditation techniques Sirius used seemed to help, as Jimmy was able to block out the dreams of Jim some nights.

Snape had even agreed to help with the meditation. He also spent some time helping work on Sirius' theory for taking care of Voldemort. It pained him to admit that it just might work, but he did, and the two former schoolmates began working past their problems.

"Touchdown!" Jimmy yelled as he came through the door after the last day of school.

"Oh shut up already," Ron said exasperated. "It was cool and all, but jeez."

"What's that?" Sirius said, chuckling a bit at Jimmy's enthusiasm.

"Mr. Lewis showed us a film on the moon landing today. It was brilliant!" Jimmy said ecstatically.

"Brilliant, eh?" Sirius said and gave Jimmy a welcome home hug.

"Yeah, we should visit the space museum in America," Jimmy added enthusiastically.

"Maybe we will," Sirius said, thinking a vacation might be good for Jimmy.

"Wicked!" Jimmy shouted as Ron just rolled his eyes.

The first day of the summer holiday found Fred, George, and Jimmy approaching Sirius looking thoughtful. His marauder instincts said this was no prank.

"What's up, guys?" Sirius asked.

"We have a theory...about the mysterious 'Jim'," the twins said, peaking Sirius' interest.

"Go on," he said hopefully.

"Twins, like us," they said. "We've been talking with Jimmy,...and Jim is his twin."

Sirius sighed. "I was there when he was born, there was no twin."

"Maybe its a magical twin," Jimmy offered. "Someone else born when I was that looks like me. During social studies my teacher said that everyone in the world has a twin."

"That's pretty true for muggles," Sirius said, "but the magical community is a lot smaller, and the closeness to make that connection that most twins seem to have, well, I just don't think so. I will ask Poppy though."

Sirius pondered this for a moment after the boys went off to play again. Finally, he fire called Poppy for her opinion. She said that it may be possible, but not very likely. Even with magic, the twin connection would be next to impossible to duplicate between unrelated people. When he pulled his head out of the fire, he found Ronan standing there nervously.

"What did Poppy say?" Ronan asked. "Jimmy and the twins told me their theory and what you said."

"Well, she said is wasn't likely. Now, what's bothering you?" Sirius asked, knowing that wasn't why Ronan wanted.

"There's a new school for mixed studies, muggle and magical, but its, er..." he trailed off.

"Listen, Ronan. Whatever it is, we'll deal with it," Sirius said and gave him an understanding smile.

"It's far away, and it's expensive. I'll just stay here, you've been so nice to me, and I don't want to lose that," Ronan said and turned to leave, but Sirius stopped him.

"Ronan, both of our families wanted us to be something we're not. If you really want to go, I've no problem with that. I want you to be you, be happy, find out who you are. It's what families are supposed to do."

"You don't mind? Really?"

"If it will make you happy, I'm all for it."

"Thanks, thanks a lot, Sirius," Ronan said and held up a parchment. "It's a new joint venture between Canada and the US for squibs and muggles with magical ties. They said my test scores lately are pretty impressive."

"Sounds good, I'll check into it and get it going," Sirius smiled at the teen, or young man before him.

A check with the Black family solicitor on the schools background, and things were set in motion for Ronan to start immediately. Sirius and Jimmy would go with him to Canada where the school was located, and then go on a vacation for a couple of weeks.

After getting the passports and legal documents for traveling abroad from the Ministry, Sirius, Jimmy, and Ronan scheduled a portkey to the school. Moody and Rachel would both keep an eye on the house, as would Dobby, who could pop to where ever Sirius was if needed.

"Take care of your dad, okay?" Rachel said to Jimmy, and gave him a kiss on the cheek, before turning to Sirius. "You have a good time, and I'll see you in a couple of weeks," Rachel said to him with a kiss, though it was a different kind of kiss.

The baggage was shrunk and in the saddlebags of the Harley, and Sirius and Jimmy were sitting on the bike while Ronan stood by holding the portkey. A firm grip on the bike, and Sirius touched the portkey along with Jimmy, and they all felt the pull behind their navel that took them across the big pond to the school.

They landed quietly in front of a very modern looking building as big as Hogwart's, if not bigger. Sirius and Jimmy hopped off the bike, and helped Ronan get his stuff out of the saddlebags and return them to normal size. Then they all went into the school, and quickly got Ronan checked in. Once he was settled in the dorm, it was a bit hard to say goodbye, even if just for a while. The floo network had yet to be set up, but would be soon. The hugs were tearful and long, but Ronan had to check in with his teachers, and Sirius and Jimmy had to start their vacation.

"Well, it's just you and me, kid," Sirius said as they climbed onto the bike and kicked it to life.

"So where we going first?" Jimmy asked, anxious to get started.

"Well, we got two weeks. So, you when do you want to hit the space museum in Texas?" Sirius asked, anxious himself.

"I think we should save that for last, dad," Jimmy said. "Let's just go and see what happens. Isn't that what you and my other dad would do?"

"You've been talking to James' portrait again?" Sirius smiled.

"Maybe," Jimmy smiled. "He told me some of the stuff you seemed to have forgot."

"Oh no. It's all lies, all lies," Sirius pleaded with a smile. "You're right, though, we'll just play it by ear."

With a deep breath and a sigh from both of them, Sirius hit the gas, and left a nice, long trail of black behind them as the bike screamed forward. Their dark hair blowing in the wind as they hauled ass down the highway, Sirius glanced in the mirror and grinned at the Jimmy's reflection smiling back at him. Identical leather jackets, boots, and sunglasses, they caught a few eyes as they went down the rode. They also got a few winks from the blond haired girls in a convertible as they passed. Sirius slowed up a bit, and they ended up at the same gas station for a snack and a refuel. With the charm of a Black and a Potter, Jimmy proved he was his fathers' son. Sirius was of course proud, and ended up with the phone numbers of both girls. Another wink, and the red convertible Mustang pulled out, with Sirius and Jimmy waving them off.

Jimmy checked the maps they bought, and after finishing their snack and a trip to the restroom, they were on the road again, taking a turn at the next junction. It was a fun start to their vacation, and they hoped the rest of it would be as much, if not more. But, alas, that was not to be.

_**A/N: I think thats a good spot to stop for now, so I can plan out the next couple of events for the next chapter. I covered a lot of ground and time in this chapter, I hoped you liked it. I've already got the house in Hogwart's picked out, I'm gonna try and speed it up I think after the next chapter, but things could change, depending on my Muse's mood. Thanks for reading and thanks for the reviews, please send more.**_


	5. Jim And Jimmy

_I know, finally! A few spots feel forced to me, but I hope you like it. I don't own Harry, JKR does, still, along with 'Deathly Hallows'. Yay! Please read and review, thanks._

"**Unveiling The Future"**

**Chapter 5, "Jim and Jimmy"**

Father and son had stopped at a small restaurant and parked next to one of the picnic tables to have lunch. Jimmy had finished eating, and was sitting on the bike, pretending to drive. Sirius was smiling at him while he finished his own meal, thinking back to Easter break when he taught Jimmy how to ride a bike.

_flashback_

"Ow," Jimmy gritted his teeth and looked at his scraped knee through the tear in his jeans. "Why can't you just put a spell on it so I won't fall over?"

"Because then you wouldn't learn how to ride," Sirius said gently as he knelt beside his son.

"But it hurts, heal it," Jimmy replied in a whine.

"You can do it, you know the spell," Sirius replied.

"But my wand's inside," came another whine.

"You don't need a wand to focus your magic on these simple spells anymore, and remember, wandless works best with nonverbal spells. You can do it son, I know you can. You gotta try."

Jimmy gritted his teeth and sucked in his breath in concentration. He held his hand over the cut, which wasn't really that bad, and said the spell in his head. The scrape wavered a bit, and then healed about halfway, but was still visible. Jimmy let out his breath in a gasp.

"I can't do it," he sighed out.

"You did really well, Jimmy. You got most of it," Sirius said and finished it with his own wand, leaving no trace of the wound.

Just then Ali rode by on his bike. "C'mon Jimmy, it's easy," he yelled as he went past.

"Why did they hate me so much?" Jimmy sobbed out quietly.

"I don't really know, son," Sirius said softly. "They robbed you of so much, but now you're getting it back. The bike is just like that spell you just did. You have to focus on what you want. Think on it so hard that all you want is to do it, so much that you can get past thinking about it at all and just do it. Understand?"

After pondering the words for a minute, he said, "I think so."

Sirius got Jimmy up and brushed him off, then started checking that the bicycle was still safe. "You don't mind that I started calling you Jimmy, do ya?" he asked.

"Dad," Jimmy said in an exasperated tone, "I would have said something by now. I like it, it feels, I don't know, like me. James is my first daddy, and that would've got too confusing anyways."

Sirius smiled and nodded. Once he was sure the bike was okay, he got Jimmy back on it and started pushing. After Jimmy got up a little speed, he let go of the handlebars, letting Jimmy get a feel for it.

"Let go," Jimmy called out as he picked up speed going down the pavement.

Sirius let go and watched with proud eyes as Jimmy faltered a bit, but stayed up this time.

"I'm doing it," Jimmy cried out with wide eyes.

Jimmy felt the motion of the bike as he pedaled. He felt his reflexes learn and keep up just like the broom. He made a turn, and circled back. It started to feel more natural, and he was loving it. He watched Ali ride by him with no hands, complementing him for getting it and then blowing a raspberry at him. He focused his attention on balancing with his hips as he went, then slowly let go of the handlebars. He was 7 and ¾ years old, and no 5 year old was gonna beat him at riding a bike. He silently cursed the Dursleys for not allowing him these things, and then pedaled faster, challenging Ali, who watched in awe as Jimmy sped past him no handed.

_end flashback_

"Hey, dad. Can we get going now?" Jimmy called out, breaking Sirius out of his memory.

"Yeah," Sirius said, tossing his trash in the can and hopping on the bike. "We should be at Niagara Falls soon. I hear it's an awesome sight."

"Cool," Jimmy said and held on tight as they took off for more adventure.

* * *

In a small hut on a rock, in the middle of the sea, several figures in dark cloaks were meeting. 

"What are we gonna do?" Avery said. "The Minister is gaining strength again. He's got Black's support and donations. The Malfoy's don't have a pull anymore, because Black was never a deatheater. That fact and the damned boy-who-lived, where ever they are, mean we are going to lose."

"Shut the hell up!" Macnair growled. "We're not going to lose. You want those mudbloods infecting our society? Then shut up. We're gonna break some people out of Askaban, especially that rat. With all of the time he spent with those redheaded disgraces for purebloods, he should have some information."

"I know where they are," Nott said, rushing into the room. "Some of our contacts finally paid off."

"Well spill it," Macnair barked out impatiently.

"America," he said. "Black got passports for the US and Canada. Turns out he's been looking after that Lestrange bastard, Ronan, got legal custody and everything. He got him into some school over there. After that, they're riding on that muggle contraption of his to some muggle museum in Texas."

"Should we tell the Lestranges their kid is still alive?" Avery said.

"He's not worth it, and neither are they," Macnair grumbled. "They're only a minor pureblood family and never openly supported the Dark Lord. Only ones worth a damn are Rabastan and Rudolphus, and they're still in Askaban until we get them out."

"So what's the plan?" Nott asked.

"I would say get Crabbe and Goyle, but they would stick out too much, and Malfoy won't get his hands dirty dressing like a muggle. Bring Carrows and Gibbon. Then we portkey to the US and start looking along the major highways leading from the school to that bloody museum."

* * *

Sirius and Jimmy visited the Falls from the Canadian side and spent several hours there. They got a few novelty pictures with them in a fake barrel in front of a backdrop of going over the falls. They also got a few pictures in front of the Falls itself. Then they checked into an expensive hotel for the night, enjoying room service for dinner. They had bought some swimming trunks while they were out earlier, so they headed down for some fun in the pool. Neither Sirius nor Jimmy had ever had as much fun as they did messing about, dunking each other in the water and such. There were a few other kids there with their families, and they all had a great time of it.

The sunshine was brilliant the next day when they checked out. They headed over the border into the US and made their way to a few sites in New York City, including the Statue of Liberty.

After a another fun night in another hotel, they took to the air, heading south towards Florida. They made good time, getting there in a few hours. One would have thought a near eight year old would have gotten bored, but he didn't. They played word games, took in the passing landscape, and just talked. Once in Orlando, they checked into the Disney Hotel, and had a blast over the next several days, going to all the different attractions and parks.

After this, they finally headed west toward Texas, catching any tourist attractions they spotted along the way. They hit a muggle sporting goods store and picked up some camping gear for the rest of the trip. Once out of sight, they shrunk it to fit in the saddle bags, and were off again, heading toward a nearby campground. It was a little full, but they managed to find a more discreet spot, and enlarged their purchases. They were having a bit of trouble putting everything together, but were having fun anyway.

It was nearly dark by the time everything was set up, and with a quick glance about for muggles, Sirius lit the campfire with his wand. Together they made quick work of dinner, and relaxed under the slowly appearing stars, eating a muggle treat known as s'mores.

Sirius began pointing out the different stars and constellations as they appeared. Jimmy watched in wonder at them all, especially when Sirius pointed out the namesakes for the family: Grandmother Capella, Grandfather Canopus, Aunt Andromeda, Aunt Bellatrix, Uncle Regulus, Cousin Draconis, and of course, his father, the Dogstar.

"Well, Jimmy," Sirius said as he got up to grab the sleeping bags. "You wanna sleep in the tent or outside under the stars?"

"Outside," Jimmy said quickly, and got up to help.

They spread out the sleeping bags in front of the fire, and Sirius noticed that Jimmy had grabbed a double bag for him and only a single for himself. Just in case, he guessed as they got ready to goto sleep. Jimmy hadn't needed to sleep with him during the whole trip, but things could change.

"What's the matter, Pronglet?" Sirius asked after watching the thoughtful look on Jimmy's face for a while as they lay there.

Jimmy turned his head and smiled. "I was just thinking maybe I wanted a star name too, but I don't need it to know that you love me and that we're a real family."

Sirius was a bit stunned and couldn't keep his eyes from misting up. "You're growing up on me, Pronglet. You are right, but slow down a little, would ya?" he said and gave Jimmy a playful tickle in his ribs.

"I'll try," Jimmy said with a giggle.

The next day, Jimmy and Padfoot found an empty field where Sirius learned to catch a frisbee. They played about all morning and then hit the lake in the afternoon after lunch. It was getting late and they were tired when three older teens of about seventeen or eighteen decided to spoil the good time they were having.

"Well looky what we have here," said the apparent leader. "A wittle kid and his doggie. Where's your old man, kid? We ain't seen him all day. What did he do, leave ya all alone?" he taunted.

"Let's just see what he's got," said the second one as he grabbed up the knapsack and clothes sitting on a rock.

"Put that down," Jimmy cried out and rushed forward, only to be grabbed and held by the leader.

Padfoot growled and took a step forward, baring his teeth. The second boy dropped the clothes and backed up to where the third was standing.

"Oh no you don't doggie," said the leader as he pulled out a hunting knife, holding Jimmy tighter with the other hand.

Padfoot stopped and stared. Then transformed into Sirius and quickly closed the distance between him and the leader, snatching the knife out of his hand and throwing it behind him, where it stuck deeply into a tree.

He twisted the teens hands behind him and said, "You should be more careful who you pick on, as sorcerers are plentiful and VERY protective of their family."

All three pissed themselves and the third boy fainted.

"Are you alright, Jimmy?" Sirius said, never taking his eyes from the leader's.

"Yeah," Jimmy said and moved forward confidently, adrenaline overcoming his fear. "Can I show them something?"

Sirius gave a feral smile and said, "Sure."

As their wands were in the knapsack, Jimmy decided to only use his hand to focus his magic. They had been practising small spells, but he felt he could do something special, and thought of the spell that Severus and the Marauders had used so much. With a smile, and a flick of his wrist, the second boy was hanging upside down by his ankle, flailing about and screaming.

"Quiet," Jimmy yelled and the teen actually shut up and stopped flailing, staring fearfully upside down at his young captor.

"W...what are you gonna do to us?" the leader said, tears flowing down his cheeks.

"Even though we wizards can't be caught or held by your...m...mortal police, we're not bad. Not like you," Sirius said seriously. "We don't pick on those weaker than us. Well, most of us don't anyway. I suggest you guys grow a conscience and grow up unless you want to end up in jail or worse. Other wizards aren't as forgiving as we are."

They nodded as they were released. The boy who fainted had got up and nodded as well.

"One more thing," Sirius said as they started to leave, making them stop and look back fearfully. "Don't you ever, EVER, pull a knife on a little kid again, especially my son."

Sirius then pointed his finger at the knife embedded in the tree, and both the tree and the knife exploded with a nonverbal reducto curse. They gulped, nodded vigorously, and took off.

Once they were gone, Jimmy sat on the ground and started crying. Sirius quickly scooped him up in a hug.

"Shh. It's okay. I know it probably reminded you of the Dursleys, and that you over exerted yourself with such a powerful spell. You were brave though, brilliant even, and I'm proud of you."

"Yeah," was all Jimmy said as he hugged Sirius tighter and stopped crying.

With a wave of his hand, Sirius managed to pack up Jimmy's clothes into the knapsack and levitate it over to him. He walked back to camp, while Jimmy just silently stared at the foliage that passed by.

They were both tired, so when they got back to their camp, they had a early dinner of hamburgers and went to bed. Sirius lay in his sleeping bag, looking at the stars sometimes but mostly watching Jimmy sleep with a little worry. He watched silently as Jimmy got up after a few hours and went over to a tree to relieve himself. Jimmy couldn't see that Sirius was awake in the darkness, but wasn't surprised when he snuggled into Sirius' sleeping bag and an arm hugged him protectively.

"I'm okay. Really," he whispered and Sirius just tightened the hug reassuringly.

They woke late and felt completely refreshed. They had a quick and quiet breakfast then started packing up to head out. Sirius broke the silence first.

"How are you feeling today Pronglet?" he asked quietly.

"I'm okay, dad," Jimmy responded with a bit of cheerfulness. "I used Occlumency and meditation to help put things in perspective. We're okay, and we had a bit of fun with those bullies."

"Perspective?" Sirius chuckled out. "Who've you been talking to?"

"Er, Uncle Remus?"

"Figures," Sirius said with another chuckle. "Though we do need to watch out for magical exhaustion. I think we both pushed ourselves too far without our wands. I am proud of you though for what you did."

Jimmy blushed. "Why does that happen? I mean, we can do stuff without our wands, so why use them at all?"

"Well," Sirius started as they put the last of their things in the saddlebags, "using a wand is easier to focus our magic through, and therefore takes less magic to work. That's why we got so tired afterward. A lot of wizards never bother to learn to control their magic without a wand because it is so much harder. What you can do at seven years old makes me very proud. I'm proud anyways, but still."

"I'm almost eight," Jimmy said with a blush as he climbed on the motorcycle and hugged Sirius tightly from behind. "I'm glad you're my dad, dad."

"Me too, kiddo," Sirius said and kicked the two wheeled beast to life, heading toward Houston.

* * *

"Any luck yet?" Nott asked when he met Avery, Carrows and Gibbons outside a small diner in Texas.

"Not a bit," Carrows said. "We think it's pretty obvious they didn't come straight here from that mudblood school."

"Macnair has been using a tracking charm, but I don't think they're likely to use magic strong enough to be traced," Gibbons added.

A pop behind the building announced the arrival of Macnair. He glanced around, and then headed for his companions, a feral smile on his lips.

"I found them," he said. "There was a large magical signature near a muggle campground about 150 miles from here. I used Legilimency on the grounds keeper, and it was them. I also found the magical traces and ashes of a powerful reducto spell."

"How soon?" Avery asked.

"The should be along this way within the hour. They had just left," Macnair responded. "We gotta get ready. Focus on Black, he's too strong. Once he's contained, we'll be able to kill the Potter brat, no problem."

"I thought we were gonna just hold him and find out what happened to the Dark Lord," Nott said cautiously. "After all, he was able to stop the Dark Lord."

"He's a seven year old brat," he replied. "Yaxley did a bit of research and thinks it was his mother's sacrifice that damaged the Dark Lord, nothing else. We will kill him and make the blood traitor watch."

"I've gotta meet with Malfoy," Nott said suddenly.

"About what?" Macnair growled.

"What, are you afraid Macnair? Afraid of Black and the Potter boy?" Nott taunted as he pulled out his portkey.

"Fine, we four will handle it. Since you're getting too weak stomached to kill a dirty half blood like Potter. Make sure and tell Malfoy that we're taking care of it."

"Fine," Nott said angrily then activated his portkey, appearing on the edge of Knocturn Alley a moment later.

He quickly made his way to his room at the Dooim Inn, to wait for his visit from Malfoy. It wasn't long before there was a soft knock at the door. The wards on the room told him immediately who was there, so he got up to let them in.

"Glad you could meet me, Narcissa," he said to the beautiful young woman with long flowing blond hair as she entered.

"I take it you've thought about what I said, Theodore?" she replied with a mask of indifference.

"They plan on killing the Potter boy, and I...I couldn't help but think of my own son Ted, and what you said about Black."

Narcissa Malfoy wanted to be repulsed by such a show of emotion, only she was feeling much the same. She watched as the deatheater scratched nervously at the pale, yet visible Dark Mark on his left forearm.

"My cousin is doing the best he can for that boy, and I can do no less for Draco. He saw something in his dream. Something about me and Draco involving the Dark Lord. My husband was oblivious to the remark, but then again, he is not a Black. If the Dark Lord comes back, Draco will either suffer or die. Most likely both."

"I get it." Nott said impatiently. "I don't want my son hurt, either. He's the same age as Draco and Potter. I just can't do this anymore. I thought it was about blood purity, but it's just about a madmen killing for as much power as he can get."

Narcissa caught his gaze and spoke softly. "We will wait, and see what your friends manage, before we take any steps for the safety of our own family. My cousin isn't one to be dealt with lightly." Nott simply nodded as she turned and left.

* * *

"I can't wait to get there, dad. It's gonna be so brilliant," Jimmy said excitedly from the back seat of the Road Hog as it sped down the highway.

Sirius just smiled as he kept his eyes on the road. "We'll be there soon enough, Jimmy. Just relax."

Sirius saw a ripple in the air in front of him, but realised too late that it wasn't the heat from the two lane black top. It slammed into them, or rather, they into it, knocking them both from the bike which kept going for about fifty feet before spinning out. Sirius had the wind knocked out of him, and struggled to get to Jimmy, who appeared to be okay as he tried to sit up.

"What happened, dad?" Jimmy asked as he got up and started toward Sirius.

Sirius had only managed to catch his breath before he felt the full body bind grab him, while a man he knew well appeared from under a disillusionment charm and grabbed Jimmy. Three more men appeared, two of whom he didn't know.

"Hello, Black," Macnair said with a sneer. "I'm sure you recognise me, don't you?."

He strolled over to the fallen bike, retrieved the two wands, and strolled back. He smiled evilly as Sirius mentally scolded himself for not expecting this, and keeping their wands where they could reach them.

"Oh, Carrows, Gibbon, stand the blood traitor up so he can see properly," he said, and the deatheaters quickly complied.

Sirius could only watch as Jimmy struggled against the man he knew as Avery. He saw tears running down his cheeks as he started to cry, and silently screamed, wanting to do something, anything.

"Quiet," Macnair growled and backhanded Jimmy. "So this is the brat-who-lived? And he's pissed himself," he laughed out.

Sirius was going to kill Macnair, plain and simple. Kill him, and transfigure the body into a dead fish for the buzzards. No paperwork, no trial, no imprisonment. So simple. Then he realised he had to be strong for Jimmy, or they wouldn't get out of this. He looked into Jimmy's eyes and tried to convey calmness, and rationality.

"Black, I was going to ask what happened to the Dark Lord, but I'm sure you don't know. I'm also sure the brat doesn't know. So you get to watch and suffer while I simply torture and kill him. After which, you'll join him and his dead parents," Macnair said then turned to Jimmy. "Ready to die, Harry Potter? The boy-who-lived?"

Jimmy scowled at the name, and found the strength Sirius, his dad, gave him. No one was going to force him to be something he didn't want to be, and no one was going to hurt his dad.

"Not yet," he gritted out and brought the heal of his right foot up and into Avery's groin, causing him to let go.

Then he brought his hands up, and two red beams of light shot out of his palms as he nonverbally and wandlessly sent two weak stunners at the men holding his dad. Nobody moved out of shock as Carrows and Gibbons staggered and fell, unconscious. Jimmy then silently summoned the two wands from Macnair, tossing Sirius his as he quickly cast a Finite Incantatum, ending the body bind.

Sirius caught his wand in the air and brought it down in a slashing motion, casting the cutting curse as he did. Macnair's upper torso split open, and he fell to the ground, his screams lasting for only a few seconds before he died.

Jimmy and Sirius then turned their wands on Avery, who had just managed to recover from his own pain and shock in time to activate his portkey, disappearing before they could get a spell off.

Sirius knelt down as Jimmy ran into his arms, sobbing, as everything caught up to them. Sirius just held and shushed him, telling him it was okay now. Sirius glared as the American Aurors popped in suddenly, causing them to back away until Jimmy had calmed down. He nodded to the leader then glanced over to the bike. The leader got the message and retrieved the passports. He waited until Jimmy was calmed down before speaking.

"Name's Johnson, Mr. Black, and we know who you are. Your Minister Fudge seemed to think there might be trouble. Are you okay to tell us what happened?"

Sirius looked down, and saw that Jimmy had cried himself to sleep. "Ambush," he whispered. "I don't know who the two unconscious ones are, but the dead one is Macnair, a known deatheater. A fourth deatheater by the name of Avery got away using a portkey."

"You're sure they're deatheaters?" Johnson asked.

"Check their left forearm," Sirius replied, to which he nodded, having been briefed on the latest news about the Dark Mark.

A mediwitch checked Sirius and Jimmy over just to be safe, and gave a calming draught to Sirius, and left a vial for Jimmy for when he woke up, plus one for mild magical exhaustion. Sirius summoned the sleeping bag for Jimmy, and carefully placed him in it after charming it to keep him at a constant temperature in the desert sun.

"Alright Johnson," Sirius said after carefully telling him what happened. "I promised myself I would transfigure Macnair into a fish for the buzzards, so if you would just leave the body?"

Johnson wasn't sure if he was joking or not. Probably not. "No, I'm afraid not, Mr. Black. I hate the paperwork, but we gotta take it with us before handing it over to your Ministry."

"Please?" Johnson just smiled and shook his head. "Didn't hurt to try," Sirius added with a sigh.

"You guys will be alright?" Johnson asked as everyone started apparating out with the prisoners and the body.

"Yeah, our holiday's almost over. Gonna head home after visiting the Space Museum," Sirius said sadly, unsure if he was glad it was over or not.

"Well, things should be okay. We have all of the info we need and a copy of the report should be along to your Ministry in about a week, along with the prisoners and the body."

"Thanks, Mr. Johnson," Sirius said and shook his hand before the man apparated.

Sirius looked around at the deserted highway and took a deep breath. With a glance at Jimmy, he headed over to his bike and got it vertical again, checking it over for any damage. By the time he was done, Jimmy began to stir. He quickly gave Jimmy the two potions, and he promptly went back to sleep.

The sun was high over head now, and Sirius could feel the heat bearing down as he watched his son sleep. He glanced up and saw a grey wolf eyeing them carefully. He gripped his wand as he watched the animal trot forward a few paces. He looked down when Jimmy sighed in his sleep, and when he looked back up the wolf was gone. He let out his breath slowly, until he heard a small noise behind him.

He spun around with his wand high and a curse on his lips to see an old man with long grey hair staring at him.

"I saw you in a vision," the old man said. "You are the great dog that walks on two legs, and protects your pups. Come, we have been waiting for you."

"Why should I trust you?" Sirius said, his wand steady.

"Because the serpent man's followers will cause more pain to you and your pups. Your changes to the winds of time have only begun, and your vision isn't complete."

Sirius just stared at the man. Although he was having more respect for divination since his own visions, there was still some doubt left in his mind that he couldn't shake. "What do you want of me and my son?" he finally said.

"We will help your pup. Your medicine isn't strong enough to heal him. But you, there is one who waits to give you a message. Another light in the night sky seeks you."

The old man then bent down and drew a circle in the sand, drew an 'S' in it, and then a dot in each curve of the 'S'. Sirius gasped at the sight. A familiar, long forgotten sight. He picked Jimmy up and banished the sleeping bag back into the saddlebags, before levitating the bike as he followed the old man.

They walked about a quarter mile before entering a hidden trail that led into a ravine. The old man had stamina, and Sirius was just able to keep up. Soon, they came upon a rather good sized camp, with plenty of people of all ages. Children were playing, men were talking and practising with bows and arrows, and women were cooking. Sirius felt like he had walked into an old western movie that Lily had told him about. Then a young, dark haired woman that reminded Sirius of Rachel approached them.

"Grandfather, I see you found them," she said as she hugged the old man and then introduced herself. "Susan White Cloud."

"Sirius Black, and my son, Jimmy. What is all this?"

"A bunch of us like to come out a couple of times a year to celebrate the old ways. Grandfather said this one would be special, though, as the two of you would be joining us."

"But how?"

"Old magic. Our kind of magic."

"It is time," the old man interrupted.

"Jimmy will be alright with me, you can trust us," she said.

Oddly, Sirius felt an overwhelming trust in her and the old man, and handed Jimmy over to her before following the old man to a small hut with smoke pouring out of a hole in the top.

It really was nothing more than a pit with a roof, and Sirius was reminded of Trelawny's classroom when he and the old man entered. It was even hotter though, and Sirius had to fight with the dizziness that tried to overcome him. The fire in the middle of the little room blazed with an unbearable heat, and the burning sage threatened to make him nauseous.

"You will journey on this vision quest alone," the old man said. "Normally we quest together, but this is for you alone."

"What do I do?" Sirius asked, confused.

"Relax and wait, your brother will come," the man said and left a shaky Sirius standing there.

Sirius stood there for a moment, then pulled off his t-shirt and wiped the sweat out of his eyes. Another wave of dizziness swept through him, giving him the idea to sit down before he fell down. Sitting cross legged before the fire, he tried to relax like the old man said, which was surprisingly easy in spite of the searing heat.

The flames and smoke danced before his eyes, forming nonsensical shapes as his mind drifted. He felt like he was drifting off to sleep when a long forgotten, but familiar voice brought him wide awake.

"About time you got here, big brother."

"Regulus?" Sirius said, jumping up and staring around at the dark void surrounding them.

"Remember this?" Regulus said and tossed a coin at him.

Sirius caught it and stared at it, taking a shaky breath as a tear slid down his cheek. "Yin and yang, Regulus. Of course I remember it," he said as he looked up at his brother. "Our secret from our parents. They never understood the black and white muggle symbol."

"It was you trying to protect me from them, Sirius, to connect to me. I never really understood when we were little, only that it was something special for you and me. You were the White, trying to escape the darkness of our family, always rebelling. I was the Black that they wanted me to be."

"Yeah," was all Sirius could choke out at he stared at his long dead brother.

"Remember what happened just before you ran away to James?"

Sirius closed his eyes and nodded. He and his brother got into an argument about him leaving. That James was replacing him as his brother. Nothing he could say could sway Regulus. He opened his eyes and saw the pendant had broken just like he remembered.

"I split the pendant, telling you we would always be brothers. I gave you the Black half, as you were the heir of the family and I was disowned. I kept the White, saying that the world was a bigger place than what our family could know, because they refused to step into the light. It hurt so much to leave, but staying would hurt even more."

"I hated you that night, Sirius. For leaving me, for never returning. A part of me believed you, though, and I kept the pendant. I...I locked it away for a time. When I found it a few years later, I remembered. You saved me big brother. It cost me my life, but it was the memory of you that made me betray Voldemort. The family branded me a coward, but I didn't care. I had to do anything I could to help in the fight. I hope you can forgive me, Sirius."

The two brothers hugged for the longest time before Regulus spoke again. "I have something to show you, Sirius," he said and the void transformed into a little house at Spinner's End.

Sirius watched, for the first time, the entire conversation between Snape and his cousins Narcissa, and Bellatrix. He saw all three parts of the unbreakable vow that Snape took. To watch over Draco as he attempts to fulfill Voldemort's wishes; to the best of his ability, protect Draco from harm; and lastly, carry out the deed if Draco fails.

Their surroundings shifted to Hogwarts, and Sirius watched as Harry went through his sixth year, following Draco. He chuckled at Dobby and Kreacher fighting it out as Peeves egged them on, then turned angry that nobody really believed Harry's thoughts that Draco was up to something, not even Dumbledore. He was startled at his young cousins crying episode in Myrtle's bathroom, even more so at the spell Harry used to defend himself. A dark spell invented by Snape, he remembered. A curious name for Snape, the half-blood Prince, which he soon saw the reasons behind the name. So much like Voldemort, he was.

Soon the scene shifted to Dumbledore's office. Sirius looked around at the familiar surroundings, little had changed during Dumbledore's reign as headmaster. Dumbledore walked in then, and Sirius gasped at the sight of his blackened hand.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Slytherin's cursed ring found at the Gaunt house," Regulus replied, and after seeing Sirius questioning face, added, "You'll see."

Sirius watched and listened as 16 year old Harry Potter entered and sat down in front of Dumbledore. He saw the memories in Dumbledore's pensieve. Memories of Marvolo Gaunt, Voldemort's grandfather. His uncle Morfin, and his mother, Merope. He saw young Tom Riddle as he lusted after the Founder's heirlooms. He saw Harry use Felix Felicis, the good luck potion, to retrieve a hidden memory from Professor Slughorn, and then saw the contents of that memory.

He saw Harry and Dumbledore go after the locket Horcrux. He felt Regulus put an arm around him as he watched the horror of Harry forcing Dumbledore to drink Voldemort's poison, and then fight the Inferi to escape. He saw them return to Hogsmeade, and Rosmerta's imperious controlled actions. He saw them fly to the Hogwarts Astronomy tower, and he watched in fear as Dumbledore prevented Harry from acting as Malfoy failed to kill Dumbledore. Dumbledore had purposefully played himself into Draco's hands, an obvious attempt to save the boy, to bring him away from the Dark Lord.

Sirius closed his eyes for a moment, fighting back the tears that threatened to come. Narcissa had cried. Draco had cried. They were family. He cared for them more than he realised. Right now Draco was an innocent eight year old, much like Jimmy. With an unsteady breath, he opened his eyes to watch and relive an earlier vision as Snape killed Dumbledore, fulfilling the third part of his unbreakable vow to Narcissa.

He held onto Regulus as he watched Harry then battle his way down the steps and through Hogwarts, chasing Snape. He saw Snape hold back in the fight as Harry was unable to duel with any effectiveness against him, due to a lack of nonverbal spells and no Occlumency shields. He saw Snape take Draco with him as he left, continuing to fulfill his vow.

He watched and felt the pain from everyone at Dumbledore's funeral. Harry's pain. He saw Harry and his friends talk about how the good luck potion had saved them. He heard Harry, Ron, and Hermione talk about forgetting about their seventh year, even if the school did open, and their determination to find the remaining Horcruxes.

Then he saw Harry open the locket, and the note. He let out a gasp and turned to Regulus.

"Yes, big brother," Regulus said with a sniffle. "I tried to do the right thing, and it cost Dumbledore his life. You know where to find it, and then destroy it."

"Dumbledore knew what he was doing, little brother," Sirius said encouragingly. "You did do the right thing. It'll be okay, now."

"But...there is something else," Regulus said nervously. "I...I did something else to try and stop Voldemort. I knew about the prophecy, so I did something else. Something I thought would create an insurance policy if something happened to Harry."

"What?" Sirius excitedly. "It couldn't be that bad if it could help, could it?"

"You'll see," Regulus said sadly. "Right now, Jimmy is wondering where his daddy is."

"But I don't wanna say goodbye," Sirius pleaded, suddenly feeling again what he felt when he ran away all those years ago.

"I'm always with you big brother," Regulus said, pointing to his heart. "And James and Lily are really proud of you and Jimmy. I gotta go now, bro."

Sirius started to say something, but everything went foggy as his vision returned to the blazing fire of the sweat lodge. He breathed hard and used his t-shirt to wipe away first the tears and then the sweat dripping off him as he climbed out. A little unsteady on his feet, he breathed deeply the clean, cool air around him and looked at the setting sun in the distance. Suddenly he had a seven year old in his arms, hugging him.

"Daddy," Jimmy said. "I was wondering if you were okay. They said you would be out soon."

"I'm alright, kiddo. I was having a chat with your uncle Regulus," Sirius said a little sadly, keeping with his vow to not withhold anything the way Dumbledore did in his prophetic dream.

Jimmy's eyes went wide. "Did he show you how to stop Voldemort for good?"

Sirius smiled. "Sort of, Jimmy. I know a lot more now. It was pretty exhausting though. Let's get something to eat, and I'll tell you about it while you tell me about your day."

And that's just what they did. Jimmy had awoke not long after Sirius had started his vision quest. Susan gave him a potion that made him feel a lot better, then he played with the children, but kept asking about his dad, getting more and more worried the longer it took. Sirius told him everything he saw in the visions. Jimmy hugged Sirius when he got a little choked up, talking about his youth with Regulus and the yin and yang pendant.

"It's okay dad," Jimmy said with a smile. "He was right, he is with us."

Sirius hugged Jimmy and then they dragged out their sleeping bags, making for an early night. The day had been long and eventful, and they were both ready for a good night's sleep and then the Space Museum the next day.

They woke early and had breakfast with Susan and her Grandfather the next morning, before packing up to head out.

"I know you're unsure about sharing Jimmy with Rachel," Susan said with a reassuring smile as she looked at a startled Sirius. "I know it was hard with his birth parent's portrait as well, but trust her. She feels the same way in a certain regard. It will work out, just trust her, okay?"

Sirius looked at her for a minute, then smiled. "Ya know, your magic is pretty powerful."

"Of course I know that," she said and smiled again, waving as they walked away.

"Are you really okay about yesterday? The fight with the deatheaters, I mean?" Sirius said as they approached the bike and mounted it.

"Yeah, I talked about it with some of the other kids and Susan," Jimmy said, hugging Sirius as he kicked the bike to life. "I was scared then, but now, where I'm safe, I kinda enjoyed it, even though I'm still a little scared about it."

"Spoken like a true Gryffindor," Sirius said as the two road warriors hit the blacktop once again.

They got to the museum just as it opened, and spent a wonderful day there, taking in all of the exhibits. Sirius was actually a bit surprised at the extent of everything muggles managed to accomplish without magic.

They spent the last night in a hotel, enjoying the swimming pool and room service, vowing to get a pool when they got back. In the morning they scared the Ministry official half to death as they activated the portkey with the bike moving, and about two feet off the ground. They landed with a squeal of tires, and tossed the portkey to the man, bidding him good day, before taking to the air again as they went home, laughing at the sight.

As they headed for home, Jimmy started shaking and had to grab onto Sirius hard, causing him to stop the bike. "What's the matter?"

Jimmy calmed after a few moments and said, "It's Jim, dad. He's been trying to talk to me, and couldn't because we were in America. It was like waking up in the middle of the freeway."

"Is he alright now?"

"Yeah, took me a bit to calm us both down, dad."

Sirius felt a prickle inside his head. "Tell him it's alright now. If you want, tell him about our adventure."

"I can tell him? Really?" Jimmy exclaimed. "I thought you didn't want me to trust him too much."

"I think this would be okay, alright?" Sirius said, as he pulled the bike back onto the road again. Jimmy nodded and was silent the rest of the way home.

As much fun as they had, they were glad to be home. They flopped into the chairs in the living room, and Dobby brought them some iced tea. They relaxed and just said nothing.

Soon, the doorbell rang, and Sirius smiled to himself. Jimmy gave him a knowing look, and they called out together, "Come on in, Rachel and Ali."

"So, have a good time?" Rachel said as she sat down next to Sirius.

"Brilliant!" Jimmy said, and then he and Sirius began to relate their experience to Rachel and Ali.

Rachel thought the deatheaters were terrifying, but Ali thought that was a cool part of the adventure to America. Jimmy and Ali went off to play while Sirius had a serious talk with Rachel.

"So, now you know about Deatheaters," he said. "We didn't embellish the story at all. Can you still handle it."

"Yes," she said without hesitation. "I mean, it was terrifying, but, I'm okay with it."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I can't explain it."

"Great," Sirius cheered, giving her a deep kiss. "Er, care to watch Jimmy while I run an errand?"

"No problem."

Sirius called Jimmy and asked him if he wanted to stay home with Rachel and Ali, or go with him. Jimmy thought for a moment and gave Sirius a hug, before telling him he wanted to stay home. Sirius smiled and kissed Jimmy on top of the head, saying he would be back later, and with a pop, was gone.

He popped over to Moody's house first, finding a wand in his face the moment he appeared. "A little paranoid, Moody?" he asked with a smile.

"You've stirred up a small hornet's nest since you woke up, Sirius," Moody growled with a smile.

"Oh no. What's going on now?" Sirius asked with a sigh.

"An acquaintance of mine in the Department of Mysteries told me of a new measure Fudge thought up to protect muggles from pureblood attacks."

"Oh shite," Sirius said in an exasperated tone. "What's he done?"

"Anti-house elf wards on certain buildings. Starting with orphanages, and places like that."

"Well, I guess it sounds like a good idea," Sirius said doubtfully. "Have there been attacks?"

"No, not yet. But you never know," Moody responded.

"Yeah, I know, Constant Vigilance," Sirius chuckled. "Speaking of which, keep an eye open, I gotta go check on something, okay?"

"Sure thing," Moody said and Sirius apparated.

Sirius popped over to Gringott's Bank next. Down in the Black Vault, the goblin waited patiently while Sirius looked around at the dark objects Kreacher had moved there. It wasn't long before he spotted the silver pendant with the ornate 's' on it. Slytherin's locket. The Horcrux. Sirius shivered as he looked at it. A piece of Voldemort's soul was locked inside it.

"I'm gonna need Severus and Dumbledore's help," he muttered to himself with a sigh.

Then he noticed that the locket was sitting on a velvet bag with the yin yang symbol imprinted on it. He scooped up the locket and dropped it quickly in the bag, and then was startled at what he saw next. Underneath where the bag and locket had been sitting, was a small, wooden box, also with the yin yang symbol carved into the lid.

"What did you do, Regulus," Sirius asked the air.

He grabbed the box, then made his way to the back of the vault, where he updated the golden liquid for his future portrait. His errand complete, he headed back home to his son, Ali, and Rachel.

Back home in the library, Sirius stared at the wooden box his brother had left when he was startled out of his thoughts by Rachel.

"Everything is set for the party," she said a Sirius nodded absentmindedly.

"Oh, yeah, today's the 29th, that's right," he said and looked up at her. "Jimmy's first birthday party."

After a few minutes of silence, she spoke again. "I take it the errand had something to do with the vision quest you didn't want to discuss?" Sirius just nodded. "Ready to discuss it now?"

Sirius just sighed and said, "My dead brother showed me some things, and I just found this box in the vault." He ran his fingers over the carving on the lid. "This is the symbol we used when we were kids."

They moved to the sofa and Rachel held him as he told of what he saw in the vision quest. Having Rachel there, listening as he told her about his brother seemed to take the weight off his heart.

After about five minutes of silence when he was done, she spoke up. "So, what's in it?"

"I don't know," he said as he attempted to open the lid, which wouldn't budge, making Sirius smile. "Me and my brother used this long before the Marauders," Sirius said as he pulled out his wand and touched the wooden box. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

Rachel smiled, having heard all about the Marauders as the wooden box clicked, and popped open. "Is that what I think it is?" she asked, peering down at the contents of the box.

"Yes," Sirius said, a little fear in his voice.

Inside the box sat a large vial, filled with a shimmering silver liquid. It rolled and flowed, with multiple swirls. There was more than one memory inside it. Suddenly Sirius felt a tingle in the back of his mind, and he became afraid of what the memories might be.

"Do you want me to watch it with you?" Rachel asked, concerned.

Sirius looked at her, and couldn't make up his mind. He had told her so much over the last months, and they had grown closer. But could he share first hand of whatever Regulus had done? Yes, he could, he realised, then remembered what Susan had said. "I would like that, Rachel," he finally responded.

Sirius retrieved a pensieve from a top shelf and set it on a table. He ran a finger around the runes that decorated the ornate bowl and gave it its power. Uncorking the vial, he poured it's contents into the bowl, staring as the memories swirled and shifted, almost begging to be seen after so many years. He called to Dobby and told him to keep an eye on the boys while he and Rachel were in the bowl.

"It will be alright, Master Sirius," Dobby said, sensing his apprehension. "It will make things better."

Sirius nodded and held Rachel's hand tight. Because she was a muggle, Sirius would have to lead her into the bowl. With a look at each other, Sirius dipped is finger into the shimmering silver and they felt the pull as their reality shifted into the swirling mass of the bowl, and it's long forgotten memories.

Sirius and Rachel found themselves in a long, white corridor, dimly lit with torches. A glance out of a nearby window confirmed it was night. In the shadows near a door stood two figures. One, Sirius instantly recognised and pointed out, was Regulus. The other wore robes that seemed to be charmed to be darker than the darkest black, and had his hood up, concealing his face.

Through the door was a shocking sight, and made that little spot in the back of Sirius' mind tingle again. The tingle of a forgotten memory, of a hidden memory. Sirius explained what he could as they watched events unfold. Events that seemed foggy to Sirius, but became clearer as they watched and listened.

It was a private room at St. Mungos Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Three figures stood around a bed. Three well known figures, one with long, black hair, another with messy, black hair, and a healer known to many quidditch players at Hogwarts. On the bed lay a woman in a prone position, her long, auburn hair lying about her head and her deep, green eyes set in determination.

"Thanks again, Poppy," James Potter said as he held his wife's hand. "I'm glad you agreed to do this."

"Not at all, James," the healer said as she did her job. "The welcoming of new life is much more satisfying than all of the injuries from your pranks and quidditch."

Sirius blushed while the memory of his younger self frowned. "Hey, blame the Slytherins for any bad thing in quidditch."

Soon, the crying of a baby could be heard. "My son, and your godson, Sirius," James said as he held up a baby with messy, black hair, just like his father. "Harry James Potter."

Sirius, the younger Sirius that is, clapped with happy tears in his eyes. "Look at his eyes, James. He's got Lily's eyes."

"My son," James said, his own tears flowing as he wrapped Harry in a blanket and held Lily's hand again. "Now for what we dared to keep from you, brother, from everyone. My other son, and your other godson," James added as Poppy continued her work.

"What?" both Sirius' exclaimed as another baby was born, and began to cry.

Poppy Pomfrey wrapped up another baby boy, with equally messy black hair, and just as piercing green eyes. "Born thirteen minutes after Harry," she told them.

Suddenly, there was a flash, and the figures froze as Regulus walked into the room, followed by the stranger. "I'm sorry, Sirius. But I know about the prophecy, and I have to do this," he said as he picked up the younger twin, stood aside, and nodded to the stranger.

The figure in the dark robes stepped forward, and cast powerful memory charms at each person in the room, erasing the memory of the twin. Sirius could feel the tingle as his memory was completely restored, as he watched the figure seal the memories, keeping them from being revealed unless viewed, as in a pensieve.

Sirius and Rachel followed Regulus and the stranger outside in a daze. Soon the memory shifted as the two memories and baby apparated to a deserted street corner in Muggle London.

"Alright, hand over my money," the stranger said forcefully. "I still have my own memory to modify."

"Alright, here's your money," Regulus said, handing over a bag of Galleons. "You better make sure you do your own memory charm right. Voldemort's the one after these babies."

"What?" the stranger said, his anger switching quickly to nervousness. "Smart move, Black. I would have never taken the job if you had told me that."

"Are you sure you can handle a strong enough charm?" Regulus asked as the stranger removed his hood at last, revealing himself.

"Gilderoy Lockhart," Sirius whispered.

Lockhart looked nervous for a moment, and then his expression turned to an unfamiliar one to Sirius. One of forced determination and confidence. The angry expression of a slightly dark wizard.

"I am the best at memory charms, Black," he said, but his shaking hand betrayed the confidence in his voice. "That's why I get paid top Galleon for what I do."

He pointed the wand at himself, and visibly pushed the nervousness away as he cast the charm. Overforcing the charm, he was blown off his feet to land in some nearby shrubs. After quickly conjuring a bassinet, Regulus charmed the baby to sleep before helping Lockhart to his feet.

"Are you alright? What do you remember?" he asked the ruffled wizard.

"I'm fine, fine," Lockhart said in an almost singsong voice. "Er, do I know you?"

"No," Regulus replied as he watched the wizard look down at himself.

"These robes are filthy and will never do," Lockhart said and attempted to transfigure them, ending up with more tears than before. "If you could? Something in mauve, I think?"

Regulus stared for a moment and then granted Lockhart's request.

"Thank you, thank you," Lockhart said, delighted. "Now, excuse me, I don't seem to recall my occupation, I shall have to think on this."

Regulus watched the man trot off, muttering to himself about dark magic, fame, and memory charms. He picked up the baby and headed off as the memory faded to a room at Black Manor. A room from before Sirius had changed everything. In a chair sat Regulus, breathing hard, in very poor health, the baby was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm sorry, Sirius," he said, apparently to nobody, as no one else was in the room. "This memory is just for you. I don't have long left to live. Voldemort has ensured that, but I had to tell you. My last words while I can still think clearly. I took the baby to a good muggle family. He'll grow up with love and understanding, I made sure of that after doing something you probably hate me for. His magic is completely bound, and will stay that way unless something happens to his adoptive family or Harry. I don't know which baby will threaten Voldemort, so I hid one. I had to, Sirius. And I hope you can forgive me for taking a baby from his parents. From you. But the Dark Lord has to be stopped. If you're seeing this memory, then..."

Regulus got choked up a bit, and started to cough, what ever his illness was, it was getting worse.

"If you're seeing this memory, then the something has gone wrong. I hope you found that damned locket and destroyed it. If not, then look for it. A large 'S' on it, an heirloom of Slytherin. Voldemort used it as a Horcrux. Put a piece of his soul in it, making himself immortal. Destroy it and he can be killed," Regulus paused and took a deep, rattling breath. "I have many regrets, brother. My biggest one, is not joining you when you left."

He held up his half of the pendant from around his neck.

"I never forgot, brother, and I never will. After Voldemort finally kills me, I'll try and watch over you. You and Harry and Reggie. Yeah, I know. I had to name him after myself, didn't I? I didn't use the Black name, though. Black and Potter are pretty common in the muggle world, but not together, and I wanted to remember his birth parents. For you, and for him. So, I named him, Regulus James Potter. If something happened, then go find him, protect him, and stop Voldemort."

With a wave and a wink from Regulus, the memory ended, pushing Sirius and Rachel out of the pensieve and back into the library. They looked at each other for a long while, saying nothing.

Rachel just held Sirius, as silent tears fell from his face. "You have to, Sirius. There is no choice in the matter. We both know who he is."

Sirius nodded silently as he held onto her. "I miss Regulus," he finally said.

"I know, Sirius. He is watching out for you, you know," she replied quietly.

"Yeah," Sirius said as he stood up and went to find Jimmy. "Jimmy!" he called out as he entered the living room.

"What is it, dad?" Jimmy asked, coming in from the kitchen, followed by Ali.

"Well, er, shit!" Sirius said, not really knowing how to tell him.

"Just tell me already," Jimmy said and rolled his eyes.

"Okay, Jim is your twin."

Jimmy stopped, the roll he had halfway to his mouth, which was frozen open in shock. Whatever Sirius had to tell him, this was the last thing he expected.

"Your uncle Regulus took him when he was born, to protect him from Voldemort. To try and ensure that the Dark Lord would be defeated."

Jimmy sat down and stared at the floor. "My...my twin?"

"Are you alright?" Sirius started getting nervous. "I was going to suggest we go get him, but if you're not comfortable with that..."

"No, please," Jimmy said quickly with pleading eyes. "We gotta help him. Let's go now."

"Calm down," Sirius said with a nervous smile. "To be sure, ask him if his first name is Regulus."

Jimmy contacted Jim, and then nodded his head. "Yeah, that's his first name dad. He's really anxious now, bad things are happening at that place."

"Ask him the name of the institute where he lives?"

Jimmy thought for a moment. "He called it the Kardene Institute."

"Good," Sirius said, and retrieved the phone book to look up the address. "Tell him it's gonna be okay."

"Ow," Jimmy screamed out and grabbed his back. "They hit him. They...they said they're getting rid of him."

"Tell him to hang on, we're coming," Sirius said, finding the address at last. "Rachel, call the police."

"Ow, it burns," Jimmy said, grabbing his arm and Sirius looked up at Rachel.

"They're drugging him," she said.

"Where is he?" Sirius asked. "Can he tell you where he is?"

"He's...he's in the basement," Jimmy replied as he got control of his emotions.

"Okay, Dobby?" Sirius called and Dobby appeared quickly, as if waiting for it. "Can you get there?"

"No, Master Sirius. The new wards Mr. Moody spoke of won't let me," the elf said sadly.

"Oh yeah," Sirius said and smiled evilly. "Fine, we do this the hard way."

Jimmy smiled as Sirius picked him up and headed out to the bike. "Have the police meet us there, Rachel," Sirius called out as he kicked the bike to life and turned on the radio. He laid a stripe of rubber as he sped off with Guns and Roses' cover of 'Heir of the Dog' being heard clearly over the squeal of tires.

"Jim's not answering, dad," Jimmy said nervously as they rode along.

"It'll be okay," Sirius said and gunned the engine.

They arrived at the front gate of the institute, and slowly walked toward the main office. Sirius really didn't have a plan, but hoped things would be alright anyway. He put his arm around Jimmy, who was getting visibly nervous about the institute. Sirius stayed acutely alert as they entered the dark and dank building. No receptionist was there to greet them, so they kept walking, easily finding the administrative office. Inside they found a well dressed man sitting at a desk while another, shabbily dressed man hovered over him.

"Excuse me?" Sirius said, startling both of them.

They both looked in shock when they saw Jimmy, and the well dressed man spoke. "I'm sorry sir, I'm Mr. Bancroft, the administrator here, and this is Finch, the caretaker," he said and with a glance at Finch, he nodded toward Jimmy.

The man called Finch headed toward them as Mr. Bancroft spoke again. "I apologize for whatever problems that little troublemaker may have done to you or your property."

Finch grabbed Jimmy roughly, and Sirius grabbed the man even more roughly, spinning his arm around his back. A sharp crack filled the air and Finch cried out.

"This is no troublemaker, this is my son," Sirius growled out. "And no child should ever be treated in such a fashion."

"Now see here," Mr. Bancroft started only to find himself upside down by one ankle.

"No, you see here," Sirius spat out in disgust. "Whatever you're up to, is done. Now."

"Put him down," came a gruff voice behind him. "The muggle police are almost here."

"Fine, Moody," Sirius said and released the spell on Bancroft, letting him drop to the floor with a thud. "No word, Bancroft. Not that anyone would believe you anyway."

"Alright, what's going on?" came another voice. "Let that man go, we gotta follow some protocol."

"What?" Sirius said, confused as he released the whimpering man.

"Chief Inspector Chuck Brenner. I've been trying to bring these arseholes down for a year. Your girlfriend made the call, yes? A Rachel Stewart?"

"Yeah, what's going on?" replied a confused Sirius.

"Sir, we found the boy in the basement, unconscious. Obviously drugged," said a new man who then did a double take when he saw Jimmy.

"Yes, they're twins," Sirius said. "I'm Sirius Black, and this is my son, Jimmy. We've been trying to locate his twin for some time now."

"Good job, then. Abuse charge to start with, and a statement from you and Jimmy," Brenner said.

"You won't believe us," Sirius tried to get them uninvolved. "It's a twin thing, they could talk with each other."

"I've seen weirder, Mr. Black, but I get your drift. I'm sure we can get enough paperwork this time. Couldn't get a warrant before, but with Miss Stewart's call, we didn't need too."

"Is Jim gonna be okay?" Jimmy asked as tears threatened to come.

"He's gonna be fine," Brenner said. "Just gotta let the medic check him out, and let the drug work its way out of his system."

"If you don't mind, Inspector, we have our own, er, doctor?" Sirius said, and glanced at Moody who gave a slight nod and stepped out."

"That's quited understandable," the Brenner said. "We have the vial and syringe that was used, so no medical test will be needed for our report. Just so you know, I'm familiar with the case involving a certain three men, yourself, and your son. No worries about publicity, Mr. Black."

Sirius released the breath he didn't even realise he was holding and relaxed a bit. They went outside after Brenner gave a few instructions to his men, and met the medic at the ambulance.

"It's gonna take some time for the boy to come out of it, Inspector," he said. "There's a large, fresh bruise on his back, as well as a few older ones. I've taken pictures already, so we can head to the hospital and let him rest."

"Just what's going on here, Mr. Black?" came the wonderful sound of Poppy Pomfrey's voice. "I get a message from Moody that Jimmy's been drugged and, oh my goodness."

She looked about to faint as her gaze switched from the boy standing next to Sirius to the one in the ambulance. Her eyes glazed over a bit for a second and then she looked at Sirius for confirmation of her renewed memory. He nodded and was startled to see a tear roll down her cheek.

"Alright, step aside," she told the medic and pushed him out of the ambulance.

"Hey, what's she doing? That's my ambulance."

"She's the best," Sirius said with a smile. "Just give her a minute."

"But that's impos..." he was cut off as the ambulance door opened and a groggy but awake Jim was ushered out by the Hogwarts healer.

"Am...am I dreaming?" the boy said as he stepped over to Jimmy.

It was uncanny for the two boys, like looking in the mirror. Jim's scar from the auto accident was on the opposite side of Jimmy's curse scar. They both had the same messy, mop of black hair, and the same brilliant green eyes. They each raised a hand to touch the other, and then grinned.

Sirius, Moody, and Poppy watched the two as they stared at each other. Moody and Poppy just a little more unnerved by it, but only because Sirius had a few hours to get use to it already.

"Jim, this is my dad. Our dad," Jimmy said and took Sirius hand.

"I...I'm sorry sir. I only had one dad, and he was killed in a car crash."

"I know, Jim," Sirius said and knelt down in front of the boy. "You can call me Sirius. I knew your birth parents, and technically, I'm your godfather, so Jimmy and I are going to look after you. No more bloody institute."

"Thank you, sir, er, Sirius," Jim said with a sad smile.

Sirius looked up at Brenner. "Need anything else, or may we leave?" he asked.

Brenner smiled and said, "No, that's about it. Expect a call from social services. Just a formality, I'm sure. Lots of paperwork to get sorted out."

Sirius stood up and shook the Brenner's hand, bid Moody and Poppy goodbye, then took Jim and Jimmy's hands and led them over to the motorcycle. Jim's eyes went wide as they climbed on behind Sirius.

"Is this thing safe?" he said nervously.

"Don't worry about it, Jim. It's brilliant," Jimmy said and then whispered, "especially when it flies."

Sirius smiled to himself and kicked the bike to life and pulled out, deciding to take the scenic route back home. Once out of sight of the muggles, he pulled the bike into the air just as 'Wayward Son' began playing on the radio.

* * *

**AN:**'Dooim Inn' was inspired to me first by Songofthesky, who has a nice fic on this site called Blood Red that you might want to check out.

Also, many of the ideas for the Jim subplot are from a movie called 'Tom And Thomas' The child actor in this movie is very talented, and portrays the different personalities of the twins brilliantly. It's pretty easy to tell which twin he's playing at any given moment, he does it so well. The movie had me on edge until the end. I suggest you watch this movie if you can find it. I found it on cable quite often, however, the DVD or VHS is a bit hard to find.

I was gonna go a little farther, but with over eleven thousand words, I ended here. The plan for the next chapter is still to get to Hogwarts, there just has to be a little more before that, Jim getting used to his new life and such. Hopefully it won't take as long. Thanks for the reviews, please send more.


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